Shadow Hearts
by Darth Mannykin
Summary: After Max made the hardest decision she would ever make, she is haunted by regrets and the ghost of a girl who was quite simply no longer there. But what if there was a chance the past could still be changed? And what ramifications would those decisions hold? Rated M for future sexual chapters. The story, I hope, is much better than the description.
1. The Fall

Alright, here's the thing. I loved this game, and I really want to get back in to writing. So I've hashed out a decent story, and have a lot of it written out already. I'm really not entirely happy with the writing of it thus far but I sort of want to get it up.

This will of course will be very Pricefield influenced and the first chapter is mainly just setting the scene of the aftermath of Chloe's death, before we get in to the really good stuff. Let me know what you guys think and I'll get up the next chapter once I have some feedback. :3

* * *

It had been a year since that day she had to make the hardest decision of her 18 years of life. Well, more like forced to make the decision. How could anyone be expected to make a decision as life changing as that in that short amount of time?

She couldn't believe that 12 months had passed since that day. Not that it had felt like a short time, without her it had felt like an eternity. Strange, considering the one week they had spent back together was arguably the fastest week of her life, though at the time it can't have felt that way.

The brunette rolled on to her back, letting an exaggerated sigh escape her partially parted lips. Looking up at the ceiling, she allowed her eyes to defocus. She relived that week every day, even if technically it had never happened. No one but her knew, and that was a burden she would carry with her forever.

Even if she were still here, she would not have remembered their time together. Sure they were old friends, but before that week she had been absent from her life for nearly five years. She blinked once, trying to forget, once more, and then finally just closed her eyes.

"Chloe…" she whispered, barely audible.

Max rolled over on to her side, her gaze falling upon the ghostly figure that was lying beside her. She wanted to reach out and touch it, but she knew that the second she did it would disappear. It was too early for that. She blinked slowly, deliberately, not wanting to miss a second of this. She studied the girl, her blue hair neatly framing her face and falling to the bed, her azure blue eyes gazing at the ceiling, as if she was seeing something passed it that Max could not see. The brunette wanted nothing more than for her to turn and look at her face.

It never happened.

She didn't want to face the truth anymore, she just wanted to hear her voice. She wanted to hear her sounding fine. She wanted to hear her being sarcastic, making fun of her or just calling her one of the many nicknames she had had for her.

In her eyes, she didn't want a lot.

It hurt. The hurt she felt was unbearable. She never wanted to make the choice. And at the time, she never knew it would leave her so alone. She couldn't even talk to Joyce, Chloe's mother about it because as far as she was aware, she had not seen Chloe for five years. All of the friendships she had forged were gone, though at times there seemed to be some minor trace of it. Like they were waking up from a dream and beginning to remember.

With another sigh, Max rolled back on to her back. She reached her hand out in front of her, turning it in the morning light and one by one curling her petite fingers towards her palm. She could go back. She always had that option. Though, she hadn't used her powers since that day. She was uncertain if she even could anymore. The thought always crossed her mind. All she had to do was rewind back, and save her best friend all over again.

She couldn't though, the fear was still there in the back of her mind. What would she fuck up if she went back and saved her again? She had seen more death in that week than anyone should have in their whole life. Then any one single person should have to see. She couldn't not see those close to her being hurt. It may have never happened in this time line, but to her it was still very much real. Every time she looked at one of those people, she saw it. She saw how they died right in front of her, how they died because of her and she couldn't take it anymore. She could no longer look them in the eyes.

And so she kept everyone away. If she kept everyone at bay, then there would be no chance of it ever occurring again. That, and she wouldn't have to pretend to anyone that she was fine. That she was a perfectly fine, normal teenager. She was so tired of pretending. Every day it took more and more effort. Effort that she could no longer find in herself.

She was drowning, and there was no one to pull her out of the hole that she had dug herself in. She wished she could blame others, but she could only blame herself.

In the wake of the shooting, Nathan Prescott and Mr. Jefferson finally being brought to justice, and Principal Wells 'stepping down' the entire student population of Blackwell Academy was offered counselling to help deal with their grief. Of all people, Max should have been the one to attend. She never did.

What was she even meant to say to anyone?

'Oh, by the way, I only knew about Mr. Jefferson because I can time travel. I could have stopped Chloe Price dying, but instead I sat back and watched it happen.'

Max cringed at the thought.

 _She –could- have stopped it from happening._

She could have stopped it, but she didn't. How was she supposed to live with herself? Quite simply, she couldn't. She let out a small laugh. It really wasn't funny.

Max was losing her mind. Every day she was losing a little more of her sanity and she wasn't sure how much longer she could last. Why did she keep going? She wasn't sure. The only reason she could really regard as being somewhat true is that it would have been a waste for Chloe to die if she were to just simply follow. And in some aspects, that was correct. She felt obliged to be here. But she just simply could not bring herself to live for another person. She couldn't believe in that bullshit.

However, more and more often she was seeing her. Everywhere she went she saw her. She was doing her best to hide it, but she feared it was becoming more and more obvious that she was losing her fucking mind. Why else would she be seeing something that wasn't there? Every aspect of her life was hindered by the sight of Chloe, like some sick reminder of what she did. Like Chloe herself didn't want her to forget what she did to her. In all honesty, the blue hair girl didn't need to show up for her to know. Max knew perfectly well what she had done, and she most certainly would never forget it.

It had all started a few months ago when she was sitting in class. She could never focus anymore, and her grades were definitely suffering because of it. She tried her hardest to pay attention, to grasp on any aspect of normality, but it was no use. Something would not allow her that. With her head rested in her hand, she was gazing out the window at a blue butterfly that had delicately landed on a branch outside when something caused her attention to shift. She whipped her head to the side and ever so briefly caught a glimpse of the dead girl sitting directly in front of her.

Startled, she quickly jumped to her feet, knocking her chair backwards and over with a loud thud. The entirely class turned in her direction and silence filled the room.

Max had blinked hard, no one was there. But she _had_ seen something. She was certain.

Almost certain.

That was the first time, but definitely not the last. Now she was seeing her almost daily. She had tried to ignore it, but the more she did the more frequent Chloe seemed to make herself. The more she would not let Max forget.

She wouldn't always appear in front of her. No, she wouldn't always make it that easy. Sometimes she would see her in the distance. Watching her, judging her, sometimes just flat out ignoring her presence. Other times she would mock her, never letting her quite forget what she had taken away from her. And as draining as these experiences were, as much as they kept dragging her under water she would never change them for a thing. Just being able to see Chloe again, at the moment, that was enough to keep her going.

It was the only thing keeping her going.

Her alarm clock began to buzz. Begrudgingly she turned over and slammed her hand down on it to shut it off.

7.00am.

Time meant nothing to her anymore. She barely slept, and when she could finally sleep she was plagued with nightmares of everything she had done. They haunted her every waking minute. When she was drowsy, she fought it, not wanting to let her demons win. When she did sleep, it was only for brief periods of time. She always awoke in a cold sweat, remembering every single minute detail. She was quite literally in hell, and she saw no means of escaping. There were no signs it was ever going to let up.

This of course did nothing for her appearance. She had always looked tired, but this was a new low. When she looked in the mirror, she hated the person staring back at her. She was now just a shell of her former self. Her eyes were red and bloodshot due to lack of sleep. The bags under her eyes were dark and heavy. Her cheeks were sunken in. She had always been petite, but over the year she had lost a considerable amount of weight, giving her a frail appearance. She tried to hide it with her baggy clothes, but not everyone was so easily food.

With a sigh, she resigned herself to the fact that she would indeed have to get up.

* * *

Max stuffed her hands in her pockets and slowly shuffled the sidewalk towards her class. It was fall now and finally the weather was beginning to reflect her mood. The leaves had long since turned orange and red and began to fall, causing pools on the ground that crunched between her worn sneakers.

Soon it would be winter, and she would have the cold numbness that she longed for.

Her earbuds were stuffed in to her ears, blocking out all the noise that was surrounding her. Listening to some punk band her best friend was in to. Whilst she didn't entire enjoy it herself, it helped. It helped to make her feel slightly less alone.

She was only disturbed by her thoughts when a body appeared next to her and unhappily she pulled the buds from her ears.

"Earth to Max." a calm voice said, matching her pace.

"Oh. Hey, Warren." She said with a small forced smile, rather unenthusiastically.

"How are you, Super-Max?"

Max inwardly cringed. Was this some kind of sick joke? Only she used to call her that. And that was in a time line that no longer existed. She wanted to yell at Warren, curse him for calling her that, but Warren didn't know any better. He never even knew that girl other than seeing her at Blackwell, and hearing the stories of the infamous Chloe. She couldn't blame him for the pain it caused, even if she wished she could blame someone.

"I'm okay." She lied, her voice scratchy, she hadn't said much in a long time. She had been lying for years, why begin telling the truth now. "How are you, Warren?" she queried. She didn't really care, she just needed to move the subject away from herself.

Warren gave a small laugh. "You know me, Max." he gave two thumbs up, a huge grin now plastered on his face, partially for him, partially to try and cheer his best friend up. "Are you excited for photography today?"

The wind blew harshly passed the two and ruffled Warrens hair. He hadn't changed at all in the last year. Still the same nerdy teenage boy.

Max shook her head. "No… I mean, its class."

Max stopped, feeling a hand tug at her arm. She turned around to see Warren, looking at her with concern. Looking down at his delicate hands, she willed for him to relinquish his grip on her. She didn't want to be touched by anyone.

Noticing her apprehension, the small boy gave a small blush, allowing his fingers to uncurl and his arm to fall to his side. "Hey, why don't we do something fun after class? We could go catch a movie at the drive in or just get a bite to eat…" he tried.

Max again shook her head, a look of anguish on her face.

Warren looked down, worry clearly etched on his face. "Max, what's going on with you? It's like you can't even pretend anymore. Ever since… I know you were old friends but you hadn't seen her in years…." He stopped, and immediately regretted his words. He knew time meant nothing. Hell, he had only know Max for a short period of time, yet he would do anything for her.

Max furrowed her brows. "Warren, don't." she warned.

Talking about her with him, with anyone for that matter, was the last thing she wanted to do. They didn't know her like she did. However, the thing that was beginning to concern her the most was that maybe she didn't know Chloe like she thought she did. After all, it had been only a week after not seeing her for years and her she was tormenting her years later for it.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, shaking her head clear of those thoughts. She knew her. She promised she would never forget.

"Look, I didn't know her well. Going by how much you seem to care about her, I wish I could have had the pleasure. But she wouldn't want you to live like this." He stopped, seeing the painful look he was receiving. "Max, please…"

"Enough, you don't get to tell me when I get to feel fine again, Warren." She snapped. "You have no fucking idea. Don't you think that if I could I…" Max stopped, she wished she could say it was because she saw the pained look etched on to Warren's face, but it had nothing to do with him. She saw something. Something that shouldn't have been there.

Before Warren could speak, she had pushed passed him quickly walking towards the flash of blue. It had to be her, it could only have been her. Her quick steps turned to running, though the faster she ran, the further this mysterious blue haired figure got away from her until it completely disappeared around the corner of the school block. She weaved between the students, trying her hardest to get there as fast as her weak body would take her, but when she finally did make it, there was nothing to be seen.

She cursed herself. If she had have just been faster. Had just been better.

She whipped her head left and right searching for her, but she was nowhere to be seen. She let out a frustrated yell. She was just here. That hair was unmistakable. No one else could look like that. And she could have known her form anywhere, even if it were only from behind. She had studied that form for months now. She knew every curve of the girl.

Max fell to her knees, her body wracked with painful sobs. "I won't forget." She whispered. "I can't…"

"Hey, Maxipad." a low sultry voice whispered.

Her eyes snapped open, that voice couldn't belong to anyone else. However, she was scared that if she were to look up there would be nothing there. Or that what would be there would be something made from nightmares.

"One day your life will flash before your eyes."

Slowly she looked up, trying to make sense of the words that she had heard before too many times and before her eyes there she was, leaning against the wall of the building looking as cool as ever. The blue haired girl smirked at Max, that same unmistakable Chloe smirk with her arms loosely folded over her chest, one foot rested against the wall with her back.

"Chloe…"

"Don't look so sad, I'm never leaving you." She gave a small but sickening smile to the crestfallen girl on the ground before looking up to the sky, as if she could see something that no one else could.

"Chlo… I'm sorry." Max wiped at her eyes, willing the tears to go away so she could gaze at her friend, but when her eyes finally cleared, she was gone. There was no one there, and no indication that someone was ever there.

She was truly losing it.

Max felt a hand on her back, and Warren crouched down next to her.

"It's going to be okay, Max." he whispered soothingly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she sobbed in to her hands. "We'll get through this."


	2. Drowning

Sorry for the late update, as previously said I have written a lot of this story, however, there is a lot I stupidly have skipped to write aspects later in the story because that's how I seem to roll...

So here I was at 2 in the morning trying to figure out how to transition in to the next part of the story and here it is. So, sorry in advance for any spelling/gramatical errors.

Anyways, I hope you like it.

Prepare yourself for the Pricefield to come in the following chapter.

* * *

Max stood at the light house, her eyes transfixed on the ocean. Its deep blue waves were slowly washing in on the bay, and crashing against the rocks below her. She studied the distance as if waiting for something. Anything. Just some sort of sign that would help her. The light was finally beginning to die, casting orange shadows over Arcadia Bay and making Max's eyes look like they were on fire with determination.

Her eyes dropped to that of the rocks below her. She could disappear. In this instance, she could just step off the ledge and disappear. There was a chance it could be quick, when she hit the rocks below. Or, the water would take her. She wouldn't fight it, so it would be somewhat serene. Max had always found comfort in water. How the liquid ran off her skin, or comfortably enveloped her. Either way would be perfectly acceptable to her.

It would be easy.

With a sigh, Max shook her head and looked back out over the ocean. There was still more she had to do before that could even be an option. She wanted to be selfish, yet she could still not take her mind off everyone else. Her Parents, Warren, even Kate. She remember back to when Kate had almost killed herself, in front of a fair portion of the student population of Blackwell Academy as well.

'Blackhell…' Max mused to herself, a small faint smirk tugging the corner of her lips. That's what _she_ used to call it. Max had never fully understood until everything went down. Though, Chloe can't have been the easiest student.

Up until this point she had never comprehended how someone could take their own life. To her, life had never been that bad. She had had a good childhood and knew that no matter what, her parents would always be there for her, to pick up the pieces if something ever tore her down. Even when she left Arcadia Bay six years previously, she was sad but it was still all okay because she knew that Chloe would be fine. She knew that Arcadia Bay would be fine. She found a lot of comfort in that in her saddest times and eventually, even though she never forgot about Chloe, she made her own friends in Seattle and that helped to distract her and developed her hobby of photography in to something that would one day be a career.

But after everything, she finally understood. That constant sick, sinking feeling that was impossible to shake. No matter where you were, no matter what you were doing, it would never fade. And that was at times impossible to live with. However, Kate was able to come out of it, she was the strong one. Max knew she was not nearly as strong as Kate had been. Even while she was ready to jump, she could still see the light at the end of the tunnel. Max may have been there saying what she needed to hear, but without that hope there is no way that she would have stepped down from the roof of the building.

Max had quite simply lost that light.

Again, her attention was drawn to that of the water, transfixed on the movement of the waves. For a brief moment it took her back to Blackwell. To when Chloe and herself and broken in to the school pool for a night swim.

They were both so uninhibited then. Shedding their clothes and jumping in the pool as if they had not a care in the world, because Chloe knew that if there was an issue, her 'Super Max' would fix it. And Max knew that with Chloe by her side, she could accomplish anything. Chloe had always made her feel that way, even when they were young children. She was always making her be better, always making her be more confident. And when she finally moved away, she lost that. She became shy, and moderately introverted however never losing that quick wit that Chloe and she used to share.

 _They had splashed each other, their laughter becoming contagious as they joked about the schools swim team and Jaws. They kept close, never straying far from one another but even to Max that still wasn't close enough. She could never be close enough to Chloe._

 _The brunette closed her eyes. She recalled how her gaze kept dropping to that of Chloe's body that had become distorted in the water, her pale blue eyes illuminated by the light's surrounding them. Her eyes followed the contour of her legs, up her flat stomach and lingered for far too long on her cleavage, her three bullet neckless carelessly hanging between her breasts. She had only been broken from this gaze by Chloe splashing her with the chlorine filled water._

Reaching up, she tightly curled her fingers around the neckless that had now become hers. One of the only items that brought her a slight amount of comfort. She wasn't sure what she would do without it. Releasing her grasp, she slowly trailed her fingers over each bullet, taking in each line and groove, even though by now she had it memorized.

 _Laying on their backs, the girls effortlessly drifted, their eyes staring up at the darkened ceiling. Max gently moved her arms around the water, the coolness of it making her feel more relaxed than she had in a long time, that and she was here with her best friend. That would always make her feel at ease. She slowly tried to steer herself to Chloe, fearful that they were drifting too far apart._

 _And then the blue haired girl had said the one sentence that would make Max's heart sink._

 _"I wish Rachel were here."_

 _Max closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she listened to Chloe speak._

Rachel.

Back then she never could help but wonder if things would have been different if she were still around. If Chloe would have even had time for her. She never knew exactly what Chloe and Rachel were to each other, or how far their relationship went, but from Chloe's actions, and desperate search for the girl, Max knew that she must have meant a lot. That they must have been a lot. Even if Rachel were more so in love with Frank, that didn't change Chloe's feelings for her.

And deep down that hurt Max.

Rachel had been there for Chloe when she had not been. And in a way, she was grateful for that. That someone had been here to take care of Chloe in her absence. But at the same time, Max was angry that that person had not been her. She could have had so many more years with Chloe, if only she had not gone. The thought filled her with a deep jealousy and rage that on some days, she found it hard to contain.

But life had a funny way of separating those meant to be together. However, it was fate that had brought them back to each other.

Max scrunched her nose tightly, taking in a deep breath of the salty ocean smell, mixed with the pine from the forest and thought back harder.

 _The two girls leant their elbows against the pool, using the side to support their bodies in the water. Max being shorter than Chloe, had to gently kick her feet to keep afloat. It was a while before one of them finally spoke._

 _"Your power is changing everything, Max. Especially you. I can already tell." Chloe finally said, looking down. "You're not so chicken shit anymore." She said with a small smirk._

 _"Thanks Girlfriend." Max retorted with mock hurt._

 _"You know what I mean." Chloe replied, turning her head to look at her younger friend. "You're becoming like, this force of nature."_

 _'A force of nature', Max inwardly mused. More like a freak of nature. However her words had resonated with Max. Maybe she was finally becoming the person she wanted to be, all with the help of Chloe._

 _Chloe continued to talk, encouraging Max. Each of her words making Max feel more and more important, like she had finally found the place where she belonged._

 _As Chloe continued to tell Max that she was 'going to make the world bow' one day, Max looked upon Chloe, finally reaching a point in the conversation where she could say what she really wanted to say without it being out of line, without it being questioned._

 _"As… long as you are there with me..." She stated, keeping her gaze on the other girls face to gauge her response to this request as if looking for some kind of validation._

And then it happened. The first time Chloe had said the words that Max heard now every day of her life. The biggest lie that now haunted her insignificant life.

 _"Don't look so sad. I'm never leaving you…" Chloe trailed off, looking at the distance to avoid eye contact with her friend, feeling slightly embarrassed about being so sentimental._

 _Max rested her cheek on her arms, a smile creeping upon her lips as she watched this perfect girl say exactly what she needed to hear._

Max outwardly cringed. Chloe _had_ left her.

With a sigh, Max took a step closer to the edge of the cliff. It had all been a lie. Everything Chloe had said, about her no longer being a chicken shit had also proven to be false. Sure, she was brave for a while but when she finally needed that bravery, truly needed it to get through this, it was gone. And no matter how deep she dug down for it, it was nowhere to be found.

She scuffed her feet against the dirt, her toes finally peeking over the edge. With a deep breath, she steadied her balance. In this instance, she felt an ounce of courage. To finally do something for herself.

And then, something didn't feel right.

Her eyes looked back out to the ocean, snapping open. The calm orange sky was now replaced with dark purple and grey storm clouds. Thunder boomed loudly, and lightning struck points in the ocean. The serene waves were now big and harsh, breaking against the shore and spraying their sea salt far up the shore line. She could feel the spray of the water grace her face before it finally started to pour down with rain, instantly drenching her in cold, heavy liquid.

It was almost as if it was all happening again. She went to take a step back, as if to distance herself from the fast approaching storm.

"This can't be happening…" she whispered under her breath, shaking her head in disbelief. "Not again…"

And then it happened, a strong gust of wind took her, pushing her forward. Her eye were wide open in shock and she threw her arms out, trying to catch her balance. Futilely she tried to correct herself, but it was all too late. The wind had been too strong and she was far too close to the edge to save herself.

And this time, there would be no one there to save her.

She turned as she fell, her feet finally leaving the cliff face and she desperately reached out her hand to try and grasp something, anything but her fingers found nothing.

This was it. This was how she went.

She looked up to the sky, trying to look beyond it to see her fate. She didn't feel ready, she still had loose ends to tie up, but maybe after everything this needed to be it. This needed to be the way she went. She had struggled too hard for too long to ever see any other outcome and maybe this was fate's way of telling her she had been taking too long to finally get to the end point. To the point that she was inevitably going to end up. She had known it all along.

Closing her eyes softly, she took one last deep breath and she continued to fall. The breeze stung her cheeks, and surprisingly she felt tears escape her eyes as her hair whipped fiercely in the wind.

The only thing left was to accept it.

And as she continued her decent with a small, barely there smile on her face, finally, there was nothing.


	3. The Void

When she finally felt brave enough to open her eyes, there was nothing.

Blackness enveloped her to point where she wasn't sure if she had even opened her eyes at all, or even if it was possible for her to.

Max called out for something, anything but there was only the blackness eating at her soul, devouring her heart and corrupting her mind. She clutched at her chest, the pain becoming unbearable. It crawled inside her mouth, and down her throat, filling her lungs with its bleak outlook. She clawed at her throat, trying desperately to breathe, to cough it out. It stung every ounce of her being and for the first time in over a year she held out her hand and willed with everything in her for time to rewind.

This time, she didn't go back in time. This time, she was alone. This time when she opened her eyes she was completely surrounded by a serene white light. And this time, she wasn't sure if she was able to get back for when she reached out her hand, nothing happened. All that remained was the constant dull pounding in her chest, however significantly better than the darkness that had tried to crawl inside.

She shut her fists in anger. The one thing she had wanted for so long, the one thing she had tried so hard to save and lost, she couldn't have. She could never have it. She couldn't even have the pleasure of a simple death. Her nails dug in to her palms and her knuckles turned white as tears began to well in her eyes. She clenched them shut.

She was truly alone.

The realisation struck her hard. After all she had wanted for so long was to be alone, she had finally been granted it. Only it was nothing like she expected. She envisioned the peaceful release, the serene feeling of losing all her inhibitions. Of finally having the release she longed for. This was nothing like that. Finally being alone was nothing like that.

Max finally fucking lost it all. She threw her head back in anger.

"You said you'd never leave me!" she screamed in to the void, in to nothing before her voice dropped to a whisper. "You promised…."

Max sobbed in to her hands, feeling the water cascade between her fingers and run down her wrists, stopping at her elbows and dripping off to the non-existent floor. She wanted this all to stop. If she had have known this would happen, she would have stayed well away from that cliff, of any thoughts of death.

This was not what death was meant to be.

She felt two arms lightly fall over her shoulders before being wrapped around her neck. She struggled at first before realising the embrace wasn't threatening. The skin was soft and delicate and that smell, she would know that intoxicating smell anywhere.

"Chloe…" she whispered reaching up her hand, she slid her soft finger tips over the flesh of the girls arm, just to make sure she was truly there before wrapping her hand tightly around it, refusing to let go.

This had to be real. She could feel her.

She could feel her friends chin rest on her shoulder as she held her tightly, her chest pushed tightly against Max's back. "I'm here. I've always been here. I've been stuck here for so long… I've heard you Max. I heard you." She whispered back quietly, close to her ear though she still sounded an eternity away.

"I've missed you, Chloe. I've missed you so much." Max cried. "Why… why did you leave me? We could have figured it out together but… You stole that from me." The tone of her voice grew slightly harsher as the burden she was carrying was finally released.

"You couldn't have made the decision, Max." Chloe melted against her, pushing hard, wanting nothing more than to feel her flesh, to be one with her.

"But I did make the decision!" she yelled, her finger tips digging in to Chloe's arm. "I chose you! I chose to save you. That was my decision. That whole week was always about saving you. Why…"

Chloe shook her head, brushing her nose against Max's neck. This sensation was foreign to her.

"But at the expense of everyone else. I've been selfish, but I'm not that selfish. You'll…" she began, but stopped, hesitation clearly evident in her voice. "You'll always be my Super-Max."

The tears that were again welling in her eyes finally began to fall, landing on Chloe's arms. The blue haired girl could not feel them though, she simply just knew they were there. She closed her eyes, trying to smell the scent of the girl she was embracing, but she could not smell. Her senses were not all there. She couldn't even feel Max. She knew she was there, but she simply could not feel her. Not her warmth, nor the softness of her skin or the comfort of her embrace. She was stuck in limbo, and she could not get out.

"Chloe…" Max began. "Where are we? Where are you…? I saw Nathan shoot you. I was there, at your funeral. I… I couldn't do anything."

Chloe finally dropped her arms and shrugged coldly. "I don't know. This isn't death, it can't be death... There was no rest. All I knew was darkness, and then there was this. Just white. There's nothing here. I'd hear your voice calling out to me and I'd follow it. I wanted so hard to find you. I've been running for so long, Max. I'm tired. I'm so tired."

Max looked down, and reached back to grab Chloe's hand, holding it tightly in hers. Was it her fault that Chloe was still here? Was her desperate need for the girl she had lost, kept her in this unimaginable hell?

"I tried desperately to find you. I never stopped running." Chloe shifted her hand in Max's. "I just wanted to see you. But I couldn't. I couldn't ever find you. You were so sad, Max." she began, dropping her forehead to her back. "I wasn't ready to die, but I had no choice. When I was shot, all I could think about was you, Max. How badly I wanted to see you. I know I shouldn't have remembered, but I did. I remembered everything. But when I looked up for you, you weren't there…."

Max spun around on her feet and looked up at her best friend, her pale blue eyes met with her bright blue ones. There was something not completely there about them, and as happy as Max was to see her, she also felt a deep sorrow. Taking her hand again, she held it tight in hers wanting to assure her that it was going to be okay.

A small frown creased Max's lips. She couldn't watch her get shot, not again. Not after the many times she had relived that scene. So as the gunshot went off, all she could do was slide down the stall and sob quietly to herself until David Madsen had entered the bathroom and subdued Nathan. Only then was she found when she could no longer control her sobs.

She hadn't been there when Chloe had needed her.

"I'm scared I'm starting to forget… I'm forgetting things. I don't really know who I am anymore." She finished, her lids heavy and half closing. "I'm so tired."

"Chloe, I'm here now and I won't let you forget. I'm not going anywhere until we figure this all out. This year has been hell for me. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you. I didn't fully understand it before, but I need you. I won't let you be alone anymore."

A small barely there smile tugged at Chloe's lips. "You never did know when to give up, did you, Max?"

The brunette gave a teary smile back. "We're best friends, and that's what best friends do. They don't give up on each other."

Max looked deeply in to Chloe's eyes, searching for the light that used to be there. On the surface, that spark, the same one that she used to have was gone. To the naked eye, she was no longer the person she used to be, just a hollow shell of her former self. Just as Max, herself, had been. She squinted her eyes slightly, peering deeper in to Chloe's blank expression.

Reaching up, she delicately ran the tips of her fingers over Chloe's deathly pale cheek. There was no colour to them, proving how not there she really was. Max cocked her head to the side, attempting to study the girl before her. Extending her fingers, she then ran her entire palm over her cheek before sliding them through her blue hair. It was still as soft as it ever was. She continued searching, wanting nothing more than for her to react to her touch.

"Chloe…" Max began. "I've been down. But I think, I think I want to start to feel better. I can't do that without you." She forced a weary smile. "I need to go back. I need to stop it all from happening." She rubbed at Chloe's earlobe. "I promised I wouldn't, but do you think that would be okay?"

Chloe leant in to Max's touch. A faint part of her could almost feel it. She closed her eyes. "I can't put anyone else in danger. I won't put you in danger. We can just stay here… I can… I can almost feel it." Chloe smiled back at Max, too reaching out to cup her face. "We'll be safe here." She whispered distantly.

To Chloe, here was safe. The girl she had always heard, the one she had longed to see was finally here. She had no hope left to offer her, she had been alone for far too long, but at least here they had each other. It wasn't safe for them anywhere else.

There was always the chance that they would destroy anything they touched.

But that was always a chance Max was willing to risk, regardless of whether or not she would be able to continue to live with herself.

Max reached up and wrapped her arm's tightly around Chloe's neck, drawing the taller girl closer to her. Looking in to her eyes, she breathed longingly against her pale lips, wanting nothing more than to take them against hers. "I don't want you to be almost able to feel it, Chloe. I want you to be able to feel me." Removing one arm from around her neck, she reached down and grabbed Chloe's hand pulling it up to her chest, she placed it above her left breast, just over her heart. "Do you feel it, Chlo?"

Chloe lightly held her hand to her chest, if she were able, she would have blushed profusely. She focused hard, wanting nothing more than to be able to tell the girl she could. Finally, she shook her head in frustration.

"Max, I'm so cold. I can't…" she closed her eyes tightly.

The brunette held her hand tighter to her chest and closed her eyes. "Try harder." She commanded in a tone that was also soothing and comforting to her friend's ears.

Max pulled her down more, pulling her forehead down against hers. She watched as Chloe fought hard within herself to be able to feel her, but it was always going to be a losing battle. There was nothing here for the dead. But still, Max needed to be sure.

"Max… I'm scared. I can't, I can't feel anything." She whimpered.

"Chloe…" she breathed, unsure at first before again commanding attention. "Chloe."

The pale girl opened her azure blue eyes, and gazed back at Max, her face reading that of confusion.

The small girl reached both of her hands up and slid them over Chloe's cheeks and back through her hair, lightly gripping it she used that grip to pull her lips down to hers. They were cold, but still soft and full. It was different, but still everything she remembered. If there was ever a time to be brave, it was now. Max ran her tongue teasingly along the bottom of her lip before using it to force her way in to her mouth, deepening the kiss.

Chloe at first could only stand there before she was filled with something she had not felt before in a long time. Lust. Grabbing on to Max's waist, she dug her fingers in hard and met Max's kiss with equal passion and fervor. Max allowed a small pained whimper to escape her lips, only encouraging Chloe further. Her hands felt heavy and were rough and clumsy against Max's body, scraping her nails against her skin eliciting more response from her.

They only stopped when Max finally had to come up for air. She panted heavily, barely separated from Chloe.

"Chloe… I need this." She whispered, holding on to the girl's shirt. " _We_ need to go home."

With a small nod, Chloe finally agreed still lusting after Max's touch. She would follow that feeling anywhere.

"Let's go back together." Max beamed, her heart now filling with something that could only be described as hope. An emotion she had not felt in a long time.

"Let's go home."

Taking a small step back from Chloe, she held out her hand between them before wrapping her free hand tightly around Chloe's. With one last look at Chloe, she closed her eyes and focused on her hand.

Nothing.

Clenching her eyes shut tighter, she focused harder, thinking of everything to look forward once they were home and finally she felt it, the spark surge through her arm. And as everything began to warp around her, for the first time in a year, she felt a content smile grace her lips.


	4. Reunion

Max awoke startled at the base of the lighthouse. The morning light flooded her eyes, blinding her momentarily. She rubbed at her face with the back of her hand as she sat up on the dirt. Looking around, it appeared as if no storm had struck Arcadia Bay. In fact, it would seem that it hadn't even rained, though her wet clothes would say otherwise.

She was confused, but thankful.

She let the breath she never even knew she was holding escape her lungs.

"Was it…. Was it all just a dream?" she whispered lowly, not even wanting to believe it herself. Slowly she brought her numb fingers to her lower lip, tracing them along it. Still feeling Chloe's lips on her own and giving her some warmth, when she only felt cold.

She pulled her knees up towards her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs and resting her chin against her legs. She could feel her heart beat taking her down. The way it slowed as she kept her eyes fixed on the path up to the light house. It was almost beginning to feel non-existent, as her stomach began to rise in to her throat. Waiting. Hoping that she would see her emerging from the tree line. That goofy, carefree shit eating grin plastered on her face.

Minute's felt like hours, and still nothing happened.

What she wouldn't have given in that moment just to see her. But still she watched, transfixed on that one location, not ready to lose that feeling that she had just gained. Hope. Not willing to give up that faith.

And so still she waited.

Chloe wasn't gone, there was no way that she was gone. It was too real to be a dream. She could even still feel her, as if she was still right there with her. She had to be coming, it was just taking longer than originally thought. The Light House _was_ a long way out of the township of Arcadia Bay. She gave a small nod to herself reassuringly. _"Yeah, that's it…"_

Her friend was on her way, so there was no reason to run from anything. No reason to jump to any conclusions that she was not coming. She had promised that she would never leave her, and while for the past year she had had no choice but to be gone, it had never been her decision to be gone, she had never truly left Max. She had always been with Max. And she would be back. She was coming back to her. That much Max knew.

But still more time passed.

And that was when the unbearable wave of denial began to break.

The sun had now completely finished rising and settled high in the sky, the harsh summer rays warming her cold skin. Finally she released her grip on her legs, balling her hand in to a fist and hitting it in the dirt beside her. She clenched her jaw at the pain, but shook it off quickly as she did it again. And then finally once more.

 _"This isn't fair."_ She inwardly thought to herself, still unable to tear her eyes away from the path before her.

She was a force of nature, she was someone to be reckoned with and the whole world, no, life was fucking her over. Taking away the one thing she truly needed. The one thing she god damn wanted. Was it selfish to hold on to a want? Yes, Max knew that. But that want was too deep seeded in her subconscious to budge. It was going nowhere. The hunger, the lust, the complete fucking desire for her want. Yes, it was selfish. But Max allowed herself that one bit of selfishness.

Angrily she closed her eyes, preventing the tears beginning to form from escaping. She couldn't stop the hate from rising in her chest, the same dark feeling as the blackness that had enveloped her before entering the void with Chloe. She had given everything to Arcadia Bay, to save it from disaster and still, in the end, it all just continued to fuck her over.

And that was when she began to bargain with an entity that she wasn't even entirely sure ever existed. However, if it had once helped Kate Marsh, then maybe it could also help her. That if Chloe would just appear before her that she would do everything in her power to be that better person that that someone would demand of her. That she would vow to use her life to help others.

And she would. She meant every word of that promise. She would have given anything for her to be back.

Then she was filled with fear. A terrible, all consuming, soul crushing fear that took hold of her entire being. What if she wasn't back? What if that void, that terrible nothing had never happened? If it had only just been a dream. More so, if it had never existed for her, but it was very much an existence for Chloe? Had Chloe been trapped between here and death because of her? That wasn't a life for anyone, even someone that was no longer living.

Again she clenched her fists shut tight, the tears freely falling from her blue eyes. They rolled down her rosy cheeks as she sobbed in to her hands, finally taking her eyes from the trees. She had not come. Max wasn't yet sure what that meant. Or whether it meant anything at all.

A small sigh escaped her pink lips, finally conceding to the fact that she didn't entirely have anything to be angry about. It wasn't the world, or life, nor Arcadia Bay's fault. It never had been. She had to accept that fact. And, if anything were to change, she would need to be the one to change it. She could not expect anyone else to do it for her.

Brave thoughts for someone so broken.

Suddenly she was snapped out of her thoughts by a rustle in the trees. She watched apprehensively, only for a doe to jump out in front of her. She could have sworn it was the same deer as a year ago, but after all what did she know, all deer looked the same.

Startled, they both stared at each other like deer caught in headlights. Max studied the animal, finally feeling at ease as it watched her back cautiously before too relaxing. It dropped its head to graze at a small patch of grass at its feet.

"Are you lost too?" she asked the animal, not really sure if she was really expecting a reply or not. After all, it wouldn't have been the strangest thing to happen.

The animal stopped chewing and stared back at Max, and in that instance Max knew that she saw it. She saw a fire in the animal's eyes, and then finally she saw it, the reflection of blue staring back at her. She would know those eyes anywhere.

The doe turned, only stopping to look back to the fallen girl as if making sure she would finally move.

She wasn't ready to give up.

Max jumped to her feet with new found strength, it all coming back to her. She couldn't have been dreaming. It was all too real. She could feel Chloe. Her breath on her skin, her voice in her ear and her lips on her lips. Her words so clear in her head. Repeating. She reached up to her neck, only to find nothing there. The one thing she had requested from Joyce that she had graciously allowed her to have. Her three bullet neckless. It was no longer there.

This was it.

The doe jumped back through the tree line and disappeared down the track.

Leaning forward she forced her numb limbs to move, breaking out in to a run. She wasn't sure where she was running to, but she kept running. Looking one place, then the other. However, it all seemed in vain. She couldn't find what she was looking for.

Did she even entirely know what she was looking for?

No, she didn't. But she knew that when she saw it, she'd know it.

* * *

Finally, defeated she returned to her campus. Her heart was heavy. It was all nothing. It all must have meant nothing. Just her mind playing tricks on her. Her heart weighed heavy and she wasn't sure how much longer she could endure the feeling. It was too hard. She wanted to go back. She was beginning to convince herself that going back was the only way. That she needed to make it work again. Letting her go can't have been the right decision.

Even going back to that void would be better than this.

That's when she saw it. That same old, beat up pick-up truck parked haphazardly in the school car park, silhouetted by the evening sunset. And there she was. The same beautiful, blue haired girl that had haunted her for the past year, resting against the bonnet, her arms casually folded as if she was waiting for someone to arrive. Max's eyes welled up with tears and she lunged forward, sprinting towards the girl.

If this was all just a figment of her imagination, if this was all just a dream, it was a cruel one.

"Chloe!" she yelled in joy, causing the blue haired girl to look up from her gaze on the ground. She slowly stepped towards Max before Max jumped in to her arms, hugging her tightly. Gripping the back of her shirt she refused to let go.

She could feel her, she could actually fucking feel her.

"Max fucking Caulfield." Chloe began. "Laying it on a bit heavy, aren't ya, hippie?" she quipped, hugging the frail girl back.

Max laughed, her tears staining the punk girl's shirt, but she only held her tighter, not wanting to let go for fear she would disappear.

"You don't know how good it is to see you. I thought…" she began, but trailed off.

"You thought what? That you would finally come say hello after ditching me five years ago?" she smirked.

Max froze, her eyes snapping open. "Five years?"

Chloe let go of the embrace and took a step back, looking her friend up and down. "Well, probably almost six years now… Wow. You look good, Max. Seriously. Such grown up. So mature."

"It's been six years…." The brunette girl began before stopping. She looked up and in to Chloe's eyes. They were still the same, but there was something missing. Something that used to be there that no longer was. And then she saw it. A flicker of it. Of the past.

But she didn't remember.

Chloe gave a small laugh. "You've gotten so weird. What have you been up to Maximus?"

* * *

Max stepped her foot up onto the rusty side of the truck and threw herself in the car. It wasn't long until Chloe did the same beside her, hitting her hands against the steering wheel.

"Damn Caulfield. I can't believe it's really you." Chloe beamed, turning to face her.

Max looked around the car, nothing had changed. It still felt so comfortable and natural for her to be here, yet there was something different, something foreign. Finally, she turned her head to look at Chloe, trying to take her all in without seeming too forward.

Her eyes finally fell down, and focused to the necklace that sat on her chest between her breasts. Her three bullet necklace. She looked away and smiled.

It was where it belonged.

She wanted to say something, something profound or witty but she found herself speechless. The smart ass Max was rendered speechless by this girl.

"You don't need to be shy about it, Max." Chloe finally said to break the silence. Putting her keys in to the ignition, she turned them to start the car. The engine only at first turned over, refusing to start and Chloe could be heard muttering obscenities under her breath. She turned the key again and finally the truck roared to life. With a triumphant smile, she gave the steering wheel a pat before putting it in to gear and pulling out of the car park.

"So, how have you been? Kicking the world's ass, Super-Max?" her eyes travelled between the road in front of her, and to her friend in her passenger's seat. She was ready to pick up where they left off, like she had never left.

Max looked down at her hands, shifting nervously. "I wouldn't say that…" she thought hard. What exactly could she say? That she had been utterly fucking miserable because the girl that was now driving this car was dead. Completely fucking dead. In the ground dead. "I've been okay, Chloe." She forced a smile.

Chloe gave a small smirk. "As convincing as always. Might I say, you're better now that I'm back in your life." It was a statement more than anything.

For the first time in a long time, Max let a small laugh escape her. And it felt nice. "Always so full of yourself, Chloe." She breathed with relief.

"Always!" the blue haired girl said triumphantly.

Max looked up, feeling a lot more at ease in this presence, smiling at her friend. "Should I be concerned where you're taking me?" she queried in mock suspicion. "I mean, a stranger practically asks you to get in their car without telling you where they're taking you…"

All of a sudden, it was like the last year had never happened. The thought of it all had failed to even cross her mind because for now, she had her back. The one thing she had wanted for a long time, had searched a long time for, had longed for even longer, she finally had it. And at this moment, nothing could destroy that for her.

However, Max wasn't stupid and knew that eventually she would have to face the past head on, but for now, that could all wait.

"Maybe you're the crazy one here, Max. Considering you actually got in my car without knowing where I was taking you." Chloe threw back. "Is today the day that Maxine-fucking-Caulfield dies?" she jested.

"Max, nev…" Max began, only to be interjected.

"…Never Maxine." Chloe finished with a contagious laugh.

Some things never changed.

"Still as witty as ever." A small smirk played upon Max's lips. "Maybe I am the crazy one." It wasn't entirely a joke, part of her felt like she had still lost her mind. But that was something she would worry about later. For now, she just needed to enjoy this moment. Like the last year had never happened.

The two girls laughed together and Max sat back in her seat, although slightly uncomfortable it still felt perfect to her. This was her place. Putting her feet up on the dash, she rested her head back on the head rest, turning her head to look out the window as they drove along the beach.

Just like before, the sun was setting and orange painted the sky with fiery passion. The ocean was calm, as if reflecting the inner peace she was finally beginning to feel. No, this wasn't the happy ending she pictured for herself, but it was a damn sight better than it had been previously. And in comparison to every shit thing that was happening, this was perfection.

After all, it was a start.

"God Max, it's so good to have you back. When I heard that you were back in Arcadia Bay, I had meant to take the time to come see you" she paused, thinking of everything she had had to go through without Max in her life. With her wishing that Max had been there. And in a way, Max had been there. Because if it hadn't been for her, Rachel would not have been brought to justice. "It's just, you know, with everything that happened, it was all a lot to deal with."

To what extent had things been messed up? What affect did Chloe being back have on this time line? And just how much did the rest of the world remember of Chloe's death, if anything at all?

At this point in time, she didn't care. As selfish as that was, she just didn't care. She would figure it all out when it finally happened.

"But… I'm glad I finally got to see you, Max." she stopped, wanting to continue but unsure how.

Max shook her head as Chloe kept talking. She was trying to piece together the story of how they got to this point. Everything with Nathan and Mark Jefferson had still happened, that's as much as she gathered. Everything else though, was still a mystery.

"Watch out, Arcadia Bay." Chloe quipped with style. "Max and Chloe are finally back together and ready to thrash this boring town."

Max continued to gaze out to the distance sleepily, taking in all of Chloe's words. She watched the scenery as it rolled passed the window. The words were intoxicating to her ears. The tone of her voice had an effect on her she couldn't quite pin point yet. It was a feeling she had felt before, but not for a long time.

"Joyce is going to be so goddamn happy to see you." Chloe spoke excitedly. "She's going to probably want to feed you up though…"

Max smiled, closing her eyes and taking in everything that was now. She felt calm, and for the first time in a year, she finally felt as though she wasn't running from anything. In fact, she was running towards it- or driving towards it, with Chloe.

"Chloe…" she began quietly, looking out to the distance. "It's good to be home."

* * *

Max's cheeks hurt, and she couldn't help but look down and smile even more at the prospect. This was such a foreign feeling to her and the euphoria she felt now, was the most amazing feeling she thought she had ever felt. She gazed down at her shoes, reflecting on the night she had just spent with Chloe and her family. It had been just like old times, with the exception that David now sat with them, instead of William.

Joyce had been ecstatic to finally see Max again after all those years, and much to Max's own dismay, but Chloe's amusement, Joyce did attempt to feed her up while making comments on how tiny she had become. The brunette after all, did have to admit she was a bit on the skinny side so while her appetite was small, she ate as much as she could force her tiny stomach to cope with to appease Chloe's mother.

David, while still David, his attitude had most definitely changed. He seemed happier, more at ease in the current situation. And his relationship with Chloe was the most surprising thing of all. While not perfect, they tolerated each other's company, and Max could tell that it wouldn't be long until Chloe's relationship with him would be as strong as anyone else's.

Max looked up from her spot on the end of the bed, as the door of Chloe's bedroom opened. The blue haired rebel stepped in and shut it behind her. With her hands behind her back, she slowly walked towards Max, peering down at her.

"So Max, was the Price right this evening?"

Max simply beamed, locking her eyes with her friends. "You're an idiot." She laughed, laying back down on her bed and staring at the ceiling. Chloe's room hadn't changed much from a year ago. A few of the posters were difference, but it was still a chaotic mess.

"A cute idiot though, right?" Chloe asked cockily, taking a seat next to Max on her bed and laying back beside her.

"The cutest." Max could only agree, after all, she couldn't deny it. "It was so good to see your mother though, Chloe. I didn't realise how much I missed her. Just like my second mum."

Chloe turned her head and smiled at the small girl, choosing to ignore that Max had said another other than giving her a compliment. "I know. Chloe Price will forever be hella cute."

Max too turned her head towards Chloe and looked in to her eyes. Those piercing blue eyes that could stare straight in to her soul. They were still so soft, and welcoming. However, it wasn't long until her eyes trailed the length of her face down to her pink lips.

She felt a blush rise to her cheeks and she turned her head away to hide it from Chloe. She mentally kicked herself for being so weak, in an attempt to compose herself. While she wanted to do whatever she could to be closer to Chloe, in this moment she could only sit up. The distance needed to be there. She couldn't push the boundaries and she would rather have her friend, if she could have nothing else right now.

"Ugh Max, seriously, you're back." Chloe began, struggling to find her words.

"No, Chloe… You're back." Max took a deep breath, her mind replaying the last year she had been alone. However, Chloe would not understand- could not understand that. "I mean, I guess for the same reason you think I'm back." She added. "We're both back."

Chloe rested her arms behind her head, closing her eyes and feeling more comfortable than she had in a long time. More at ease and relaxed than she had in the last year. For not seeing someone for six years, she couldn't deny the bond that she still felt with this girl.

"Man, I want to blaze. This day has been so… unreal. I should probably take you home though, huh? It's getting late." Chloe asked, breaking the comfortable silence. "Or, Max could stay here this evening. And we could stay up just like we used to."

Max stretched her arms above her head, rolling her shoulder blades back. "I called getting kidnapped this evening." Max said with a pointed laugh. "As long as you're not going to murder me in my sleep, I think I could probably manage crashing here."

"Perfect." Chloe got up and began to rummage through her dresser draw. "Hey, do you think Joyce would help dispose of your body? I mean, I am her baby after all…"

Max picked up a dirty shirt off the ground and threw it in Chloe's direction.

As if she knew it was coming, Chloe turned and caught it in her right hand. "Max Caulfield, always so predictable." She grinned, holding the shirt in one hand, and a joint in the other.

Settling on the bed, her back against the headboard she placed the end between her lips, taking a deep breath as she lit the opposing end. Taking it between her fingers, she removed it from her lips, holding the smoke in for a second, she finally allowed it to escape from her lips. "Now I'm in heaven. Did you want some, Max?"

Max shook her head and watched her carefully. Nothing much had changed. She was still the same Chloe she always was.

However, as perfect as this evening had been, she couldn't shake the fragile feeling that at any moment it could all be ripped out from under her.

There was a shrug. "Your loss. But don't just stand there, Max. Turn on the T.V, hit the light and get in to bed." Chloe commanded. "I can't return a tired Max Caulfield to Blackhell."

Max gave a small shy nod and did as she was told. First the television, and then the light. She moved to the side of the bed, and her attention fell to Chloe. She was bathed in the dull glow from the T.V, but even in this unflattering light, to Max, she was still the most beautiful person to have graced the face of the planet.

Chloe turned her attention away from the television and to the girl standing beside her bed, noticing her hesitation. "You okay there, Mad Max?" she asked with concern. "Did you need anything?"

Max shook her head and looked, to the side away from Chloe's stare. She needed her to stop looking at her like that. "No…"

"Then what are you waiting for, B-ro? I don't bite." Chloe gave a premature laugh, giving away the fact that she was going to tell a joke. "…Well, hard." She continued her stoned giggle.

Max blushed hard, she could still feel Chloe's eyes boring in to her, watching her every movement. As if she thought that in this darkness, Max would not notice. All that she could do was pretend that she didn't, there was no way she could say something. She wasn't as forward as Chloe was.

Chloe took a puff of her joint, as she watched the girl before her begin to undress. It wasn't that she had meant to stare, she just couldn't take her eyes away as if something was making her attention stay there. Some force saying that it was okay. They had seen each other undress many times, but this time was different. They weren't kids anymore, and Max most definitely had grown up.

With hesitation, she reached down and grabbed the bottom of her shirt. Pausing briefly, she took a deep breath before beginning to pull it over her head. Still looking away, she dropped it to the ground.

Chloe felt like a sleaze, but she still couldn't force herself to look away. She watched as Max's breasts rose and fell in her bra with her shallow, uneven breaths. While they weren't as big as her own, they were still big enough to admire, and admiring was something Chloe most definitely was doing.

Reaching to the front of her jeans Max tugged open the button, sliding the zip down to its base. Stumbling ever so minutely, she began to slide the material down her thighs.

She sat there, unable to move from her trance as she watched Max continue to undress, following her hands with her eyes as they moved down her flat stomach to her pants. As she opened them, she caught a glimpse of her underwear and gulped down the lump that had grown in her throat.

Max let them drop to the floor and became increasingly aware that all she was wearing were her underwear. Her face was now bright red and she thanked the darkness for masking her embarrassment. In a feeble attempt to cover some of her nakedness, she hugged her arms tightly around her body. Finally, she pulled her eyes back to her friends. She had watched her every movement.

Max felt okay with that.

What was happening?

Finally, she saw Max shift uncomfortably and she willed with everything she had just to tear her eyes away from her half nude form. Taking a deep breath, she ashed the joint in the ash tray beside her bed before turning her attention back to the T.V, hoping that she had not been noticed. Or if she had, that Max would not be ballsy enough to say anything.

Max was finally able to move after being frozen to the spot. She reached down and pulled back Chloe's sheets, climbing under them and pulling them right up to her chin to cover her exposed body.

Chloe couldn't help but smile. Her friend was so shy, and she couldn't even begin to imagine what she had been through to make her so frail. She could tell that Max was hesitantly keeping her distance, though she was unsure if it was out of her shyness or something more.

The older girl kept her eyes on the Television, though still completely aware of Max's every movement. A lot had changed in six years. Reaching up, she ran her slender fingers through the top of her hair and took another long drag on her joint. Because of Max, someone she had cared about deeply had had her redemption. She may have been gone, but she in the end got her revenge. And she owed Max her life simply for that point.

She had only heard what Max had done to take down those demons through students at Blackwell, and through the media and while she wanted to ask so many questions, she knew that now was not the time. It was obvious that whatever she had done had taken its toll on her. She would get her answers, but for right now, she was just content living in this moment. She had her best friend back. Her crazy gorgeous best friend.

Max had turned on her side to face Chloe, the sheets pulled right up to her face, covering her nose so that only her eyes were peeking out. She watched as her friend kept her eyes glued to the T.V, almost mindlessly taking drags of her joint.

What did Maxine Caulfield want?

Of course she knew what she wanted, Chloe. This girl who's bed she was in, half naked. She wanted her. Wanted her to again stare at her as she did when she was undressing, like she meant something. Like she could have easily been claimed by her.

However, Max had to concede to the fact that Chloe was in fact Bisexual. She had been with at least one girl that Max had known of, and a few of the guys at Blackwell, or so she had heard. The fact that she was staring at her in such a provocative way could have meant something as little as the fact that she was turned on by the female form. Either way, Chloe had ignored her since.

She felt a small pout tug at the corner of her lips.

She had no reason to be jealous. Not of not having her attention, nor of her previous relationships. But Max couldn't help it. With a low groan, she grabbed the sheet and threw it up over her head, earning a stifled giggle from Chloe. Max pouted even more.

Max had had little experience in the love department. In fact, her first kiss had been from Chloe in a time line that now didn't exist. Did that make it so it never had happened? She shook her head, she would never forget it. She would never forget their first kiss, nor the passion of their second in the middle of the storm before everything changed.

The thought of someone else touching her made her stomach churn and made her irrationally angry. Of course she would have already been with other people, she was gorgeous. And had the personality to match it. Max couldn't even begin to fathom how many people looked at her the same way that she did. And then it struck her, was Chloe dating someone now? There was no way that she was still single.

Slowly she pulled the blanket back down, stopping just below her eyes to stare back up at Chloe, trying to work out the answer to her impossible question. She would never know without asking yet she was unable to ask herself.

Max yawned, a small squeak escaping her lips and she kicked herself for even making a sound. The only saving grace was that it earned a smile from Chloe, who turned to look at her.

Max could only blink back, completely enthralled by the beauty of this girl. It wasn't long until her eyelids began to feel heavy and she felt herself drifting off to sleep as Chloe stared back in to her eyes until Max had relinquished her body to rest.

Rubbing at her face, Chloe finally began to feel drowsy. Gently easing herself off the bed so as not to wake the sleeping Max, she stood up tall, stretching her long limbs. Turning back to look over her shoulder, she watched the blankets over her friend rise and fall slowly with her gentle breathing. With a long yawn, Chloe began to pull off her clothes. First her pants, which easily slid down her long, slender legs, then her shift followed. She generally liked to sleep in the nude, but wasn't exactly certain how that would go down in the morning.

She smiled, the thought of how Max would react crossing her mind. She had to admit, it would have been amusing and that thought was tempting to her.

Shaking out her limbs, she climbed under the covers beside Max, careful not to wake the peaceful sleeper. She made a move closer to her, before decidedly backing off. While it didn't feel it, Max was still so new to her. She wasn't sure what boundaries were in place and didn't want to cross them. After all, friends most certainly didn't cuddle. She looked so peaceful and serene. Reaching out with a shaking hand, she delicately brushed the back of her fingers against Max's face causing the sleeping girl to wrinkle her nose.

Chloe quickly withdrew her hand, not wanting to be caught in the act. Laying on her side, she continued to watch her sleep. She looked so worn out, but peaceful in her sleep. Chloe was glad she seemed to be getting some rest. However, rest was the last thing she wanted her to be getting if she could have it her way.

Taking a deep breath she again reached out her hand, placing it on top of Max's, gently running her fingers up and down her warm skin. It was soft and welcoming and she wanted nothing more than to melt in to it. Watching her undress had awoken something within her, something that she never knew was there. Sure, when they were kids Chloe had always had a crush on Max, but what kid didn't love their best friend.

Chloe closed her eyes, breathing in Max's scent. It was thoroughly intoxicating.

She continued to rub her thumb over Max's skin, each minute moving it up her arm, closer to her body. She was certain now that she was asleep, and could be a little bolder with her movements. She couldn't put her finger on why she felt she needed to be closer to her, it was a very foreign feeling to her.

Finally forcing herself to pull her hand away, she tucked it under the pillow and let a yawn escape her lips. She couldn't fall asleep with her hand there and risk Max waking up and feeling it. The last thing Chloe wanted was to wake up and have Max gone because of some need that she thought she had.

Eventually, contented with the warmth she could feel from her friend, she let herself fall in to sleep.

It was then that Max stirred in her sleep and rolled over before waking up. She could feel the heat from Chloe behind her, and couldn't help but wonder if she was asleep. She felt a blush take her cheeks as she thought about what Chloe was sleeping in. If she had stripped down like her, worn all her clothes to bed, or maybe had worn nothing at all.

Holding her breath, she pretended to move in her 'sleep', scooting her butt back until she met the warmth she was searching for. She froze, feeling Chloe's bare thighs against her skin. It was hot and soft, and she straightened her legs slightly so more of her flesh was touching Chloe's.

It wasn't much, but for a girl who longed for her friends touch, for now, it was enough. Feeling somewhat contented, she closed her eyes and again drifted off to sleep.

* * *

So here it is, the part where the story finally get's on track. Sort of a long chapter, but I couldn't really cut it off. It was something that needed to be all there.

I hope you guys enjoyed this little bit of Pricefield fluff. So much more to come.

Again, sorry for spelling/gramatical errors.

Also, thanks for taking the time to read, guys. Appreciate it.


	5. Time Tripping

Max was the first of the two to wake. She could hear Joyce and David conversing downstairs, but could still tell it was quite early as the room was still very much dark. Blinking slowly, she yawned, beginning to recall her surroundings. She was here. It wasn't just a dream.

Then, as if it all hit her at once, she felt it. She felt Chloe move against her.

If she hadn't had been warm before, she felt it now as her cheeks flushed red with blood. There was a hand on her hip. A hand that was not her own. Swallowing slowly, she closed her eyes, taking in the other sensations. Her almost completely bare back was pressed against Chloe's almost completely bare chest. Max could feel her material clad breasts pushed against her, rising and falling with her contented breaths. The front of Chloe's thighs were against the back of Max's, her body contorted around hers.

Max froze, unable to will herself to move. She wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten in to this predicament, or even if it was okay. She couldn't help but think that she had caused this, considering she had scooted back against Chloe to get closer. More so, she had never expected Chloe to reciprocate her advance.

"This _is_ okay', Max internalized. And it was okay, that could be said for her at least. For her friend though, she did not know. Still half asleep, she did not currently have the brain capacity to completely understand the gravity of their position, nor did she care to. Even if she had accepted that it was wrong at the time, she didn't even think she would have moved

However, she couldn't get passed the hand on her hip. The way that it sat in limbo, rested between her ass and her thigh as if still up in the air about where it wanted to touch first. Max would have given anything for it to just decide, to move to one or the other, to gently caress her skin. Yet it still just sat there, motionless. Letting out a frustrated grumble, she closed her eyes, still unwilling to move from this almost perfect embrace.

For the first time in a long time she finally felt rested. For the first time since she had lost her, there were no nightmares of that decision, nor of the countless deaths she had had to endure. And why she knew deep down that it wouldn't last, she couldn't help but feel as if it was finally beginning to change. And for the moment, why wouldn't she be allowed to believe that? There was nothing here to take that feeling away from her and she could relish in that fact.

More surprisingly, she couldn't wait for this day to begin. A feeling that had eluded her from so long. While she didn't want to attend classes, she knew that the day would be filled with Chloe. Or so she hoped. And the thought of that would be enough to get her through the day.

Max sucked in her breath sharply and held it, feeling the thumb from the hand that was precariously rested on her hip begin to shift up and down. Ever so slowly at first, but then increasing in speed. She didn't dare move as a million different thoughts crossed her mind. Biting her lower lip, she continued to remain as still as she could, not willing to let anyone know that she was awake yet.

She could feel Chloe exhaling deeply against her skin, giving way to the fact that the girls face was awfully close to her neck. This was closely followed by the tip of her nose making contact with the nape of her neck, just ever so lightly. As if Chloe had a want to nuzzle in to her, but for some reason something was stopping her from doing so.

Max closed her eyes, biting her lip harder as Chloe's hand grew bolder. It shifted at first against her bare thigh, the palm grazing more of her supple flesh before inching closer to her inner thigh. Her nails dug lightly in to her skin, kneading it gently. As hard as she tried to stop it, as Chloe's hand moved closer to its destination, she could no longer hold it in and a small, pathetic moan escaped her lips.

The hand was immediately withdrawn as if being caught in the act of doing something it shouldn't. Silence fell over the room and not even the sound of a breath could be heard. The moments that followed felt longer than they ought to have. Finally, the silence was broken by an audible sigh and the bed creaking as it shifted under the weight of Chloe as she manoeuvred to sit up and threw her legs over the side of the bed.

Shaking her head, Chloe buried it in her hands. What was she doing? She couldn't take advantage of her friend. Max trusted her. Even after all these years she still had so much trust in her, enough to climb in her truck and stay at her house and here she was taking advantage of her in the most horrendous way. Chloe felt like a complete asshole, but she just simply couldn't help herself. She had wanted to keep her hands to herself, but her body would not allow it. Her mind had willed her body to stop, but the feel of Max's thighs against her hand had made it impossible for her body to listen. Max's skin was so soft and warm and she wanted nothing more than to explore more of it.

And oh god, that smell…

Finally rising to her feet, Chloe let out a discontent grumble. She looked over her shoulder to make sure that Max was still sleeping before picking up a dirty towel off the ground and exiting her room to shower. She needed to take her mind off Max.

Upon hearing Chloe exit, Max rolled on her back, breathing heavily. Balling her hand in to a fist she hit the bed at her side, mentally cursing herself. She could have had more had she not been so weak and allowed her body to betray her. She groaned, bringing her hands to her face in embarrassment. Of course she couldn't have just played it cool. Maxine Caulfield, the pathetic little virgin had to lose her shit at the mere touch of someone.

But it hadn't just been anyone.

Taking a deep breath to finally steady her breathing and attempting to get her heart rate under control, she lifted herself from the mattress and sat on the side of the bed, placing her bare feet on the carpet. Stretching her bare legs out in front of her, she bent over at the waist, finally expelling that breath. Max could still feel the warmth of Chloe's hand against her thigh and the heat of her breath against her neck causing a growing fire in her gut.

Shaking her head, she stood up allowing herself to have a much better look around Chloe's room in an endeavour to distract herself. Walking over to the desk, she ran her finger along the dark stained wood, taking a collection of dust with her. Clearly Chloe hadn't used it in a while or dusted. She didn't seem to be one for cleaning at all, in fact. Her eyes grazed the papers strewn recklessly across it. None of them seemed important enough for Chloe to have put them somewhere safe. Little bits of tobacco and what appeared to be marijuana were scattered throughout the paper and on the window sill.

"So very subtle, Chloe." A smile crossed Max's lips at her friend's inability to hide either of her habits.

Finally she reached the blue haired girl's laptop, its screensaver dancing along the screen effortlessly. Max glanced to the door, arguing internally with herself momentarily before turning her attention back to the laptop. Reaching out her index finger she hit the spacebar, causing the screen to turn blank before waking up. Moving her finger to the enter key just like she had the space bar, she hit it.

Nothing.

It was password protected.

Max adverted her attention away from the laptop and shuffled across the room to the wardrobe, opening it and running her fingers along the clothes knowing that some of them belonged to Rachel.

It's not like she had wanted to snoop on her friends laptop, and she knew that Chloe wouldn't have cared. She had always been nosey though and in this instance, curiosity had gotten the better of her. It was just her way of answering questions, instead of actually having to ask them. And it was definitely much easier to find out something that way than risk having someone lie to her if she did happen to ask. Max shook her head, deciding not to even worry what would be on her friend's laptop and instead admired her clothes. She had always loved the way Chloe had dressed, although now it was definitely a lot more 'hip'. She had never been afraid to be herself, wearing whatever she wanted and felt comfortable in. Max had never been that way, choosing to rather wear jeans and a t-shirt then any style that had been in for whatever reason. She enjoyed those clothing choices, and she was always comfortable.

She looked to the ground, wondering how she managed to avoid all the mess on the floor as she walked between the items in Chloe's room. Reaching down, she picked up her t-shirt before pulling it over her head. She turned and looked at herself in Chloe's full length mirror. She looked a mess. She frowned slightly as she raised her hands and ran her palms over her chest. She didn't have a lot to offer, she thought to herself. She wasn't entirely sure why Chloe had even wanted to touch her body, but again she could only come to the conclusion that it had been because she was there at the time and for no other reason whatsoever. A victim of circumstance.

Dropping her hands to the bottom of her shirt she grabbed the hem, pulling it up enough to expose her underwear, stopping just above her hips. She had lost a lot of weight over the last year and couldn't even begin to fathom how anyone could be even remotely attracted to her. Turning slightly, she extended her leg, trying to make her short limbs appear longer than they were, and attempting to hide her hip bones that were protruding out at a sharp angle before eventually turning to admire her butt. It was cute, she still had that- The one compliment she would allow herself.

Finally she scowled before letting her shirt drop. She wasn't certain when she had grown to loathe her own appearance, but it definitely wasn't a feeling she enjoyed. While she had never been thrilled with it in the first place, she had grown to accept it and even that she may have been slightly attractive to others. Now however, that thought had gone completely out of the window. She never meant to let herself get this way, or any of it get away from her. But time had taken its toll on her. Ironic, considering she was a time traveller.

Reaching up, she tangled her fingers in her mousey brown hair. It was longer now than it had been a year ago, though not by much. She had attempted to trim it herself at one point but gave up on that idea, instead choosing to let it grow out. She began to comb it with her fingers, it was a mess and she did with it what she could with it before turning and picking up her jeans, in a poor effort to try and forget the lost cause that was her hair. She pulled her legs through them one at a time.

There was something about Chloe's room that made her feel safe. Like nothing bad could happen as long as she was in here. Max smiled to herself, maybe it had something to do with the smell of weed that lingered along with the faint smoky haze that always seemed to be present. She was probably high by association. The fact that Chloe smoked both weed and cigarettes didn't bother Max at all. Somehow, Chloe had never smelt like either of the items. The brunette had never been interested in either of them and didn't think she would ever care for trying them, but now there was a part in the back of her mind that thought one day she might like to try it. After all, life was short.

Sitting back on the bed, she began to pull on her shoes. Once completed, she threw her arms up n an exaggerated fashion and fell back on the bed. She had done well to advert her mind from the morning's events and mentally congratulated herself. Even if only briefly. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to eventually drift off to sleep.

Chloe finally came back in to her room, knocking Max out of her daze. With a yawn, she sat up. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the morning light was now beginning to creep it's away across her bedroom floor.

"Where'd you go?" Max asked hesitantly, shuffling her feet on the floor.

"Huh?" Chloe asked, looking over her shoulder as the girl rose from her bed. "Oh, hey. Good morning, sleepyhead." She smiled almost apologetically before turning her attention back to her wardrobe.

"I've been up for ages!" Max mumbled in retort as her eyes fell on Chloe.

"Sure thing, Maxi-Pad." Chloe continued to hunt in her wardrobe, occasionally pulling an item out and dropping it at her feet. "And sorry, I had to go shower. I didn't think you'd mind getting a bit of a sleep in."

Max blinked slowly, studying the girl before her as she began to speak, unsure at first. "It… was nice." She was still wet from the shower, leaving her skin glistening. Her blue hair was matted to her face and slowly dripping on to the carpet. She watched as her white towel just barely covered the cheeks of her ass and every time she leant forward, a little more was exposed. Embarrassed, she dropped her blue eyes to the ground trying her hardest to give her friend some privacy.

The punk girl gave a small chuckle. "I think one day you're going to surprise me and give me a response without being so unsure of yourself. I may just die of shock when that happens."

"Yeah, and maybe one day I'll be able to say something without you being a smart ass. Which do you think is less likely?" she puffed out her cheeks.

Reaching down in to her pile of clothing, Chloe retrieved the pair of underwear she had dropped and bent over to step in to them before manoeuvring them up her legs whilst holding the towel in place. "Can't let my fans down, can I, Max? You'd be distraught if I ever changed my ways. And I especially can't let my number one fan down."

Max too leant down and began to tie her shoes, anything to take her attention away from Chloe. "You're right. I don't know how I would be able to live with myself." Max paused, feeling an all too familiar pain her chest. She thought hard for a moment. "Chloe… Do you ever feel like you're moving in slow motion?"

Chloe stopped for a second, and even though Max couldn't see her face, she knew she was thinking.

"Like when I'm high? Cause yeah, I've hella been that buzzed."

Max shook her head.

A silence followed as Max tried to rationalise why she was asking. For a whole year she had felt that way. Like she was in slow motion but everything around her just kept speeding by. She couldn't get out of it. However, locked in this room she felt somewhat normal. And maybe it was just that, that she was shut away in a small room away from everyone.

"Chloe, I…" Max began, but at that moment, her phone buzzed causing Chloe to glance over her shoulder. Digging in to her pocket, Max finally fished it out and unlocked the screen. It was Warren.

 ** _"Hey Maximillian, movie marathon tonight?_**

 ** _I've just added some new flicks to my hard drive."_**

"Plans?" Chloe asked, dropping her towel so she could slide her bra on to her arms and reach behind herself to attach the clasp.

Max's eyes ran over the subtle curve of her spine, following it down the length of her body. "Nope." She shook her head. "It was just Warren. Wants to catch up."

"I meant your plans for today, you kook. Class and such." Chloe turned and gave a kind smile to Max.

Max felt a faint scarlet stain her cheeks as she looked down. "Oh." She paused briefly, trying to make sense of mistaking the meaning of Chloe's question. She was sure she hadn't… "Just class."

Chloe continued to busy herself in her closet in the silence that followed before asking. "Hey Max, how was Seattle? Tell me about it." Her voice was kind and generally interested.

The brunette scratched the back of her head. How was she meant to talk about the place she had left her friend for in her moment of need? "Seattle… was amazing, Chloe. I mean, it had its perks."

Chloe looked over her shoulder and cocked her eyebrow. "Perks, huh?"

Max shook her head entirely too hard. "No! Not like that." Her cheeks instantly burnt red.

There was a chuckle from her friend. "Alright, Max…"

"Chloe! I'm serious!" she pouted, before taking a deep breath in realisation that her friend was just trying to wind her up. "You're an ass, you know?"

"Takes one to know one!" Chloe quipped back.

Max decidedly ignored her efforts to get to her and instead continued her train of thought on Seattle. "What I _had_ meant to say was that it was good for me… For my photography I mean. There's so many amazing photo opportunities there and so many people to learn from. The architecture is amazing. You'll never see buildings like that here."

Chloe smiled turning to face her friend. "That sounds nice, Max. You'll have to show me your shots some time." There was a brief pause as the tone of her voice dropped, trying not to give way to a hint of sadness. "What about your friends, hippie? You must have been killing it there."

It was Max's turn to give a small chuckle. "They were alright… I mean, I didn't have many. But the ones I did have were great. I mainly just focused on my art there. They weren't nearly as big of nerds as you are though. They would always "nerd out" with me when I needed it, however."

What Max was entirely oblivious to in Seattle was the fact that she not only had a few friends, she had many. And many admirers. Some for her work alone, some for her personal qualities. She had always had a way of being blind to the fact that someone harboured feelings towards her, especially if it was not pertinent to what she was doing, or where she wanted to head at the time. But that had always been Max in the social department. Unless it was spelled out for her, she would always be bounds behind.

Chloe looked down. She had been lonely without her friend. She had made a ton of friends, which had always come easy to her but only one or two that actually meant something to her. Max had always left a hole in her heart. While she was glad that Max had done well while she was away, there was still a part of her that felt saddened not to have been a part of it.

"I can say I didn't want to go, because honestly back then, I never wanted to leave you. Especially when you needed me. I had no choice back then, I was a kid. But Chloe, Seattle was good for me." She stopped, studying the girl's reaction before continuing. "We'll make up for lost time." And she meant that in the most literal way possible. All the time they had spent apart, including the year that she had been dead to everyone. Max would do whatever she could to make that time up.

In silence Chloe pulled on her ripped black jeans, followed by her worn singlet and then trudged over to the bedside table to grab her keys. "It's late. We'd better get you to class then, huh?"

Max slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, I guess…"

* * *

Max sat in the back of the class, her head rested in her hands and she lazily stared off in to the distance. She used to love Photography. For as long as she could remember it had been her passion. Talking about it in Seattle with Chloe this morning had stirred up mixed emotions. Any one that knew Max Caulfield would know that she embodied photography. However, just like with everything else, Max had lost that passion. She hoped one day she would get it back, but maybe she had just grown out of it. She tapped her pen mindlessly on the desk, her eyes gazing over her class. She didn't like focusing on them too much, time had severed the friendships she had forged and there was a small part within her that longed to have them back.

She just didn't know how.

Her eyes settled on Victoria Chase. The petite blonde girl with the pixie cut. One of the girls who had made her life a living hell, and while after Chloe's death she still had, she had since backed off. There was no reason why, just one day she stopped. Sometimes she would catch her staring at her, as if she could see something Max could not. Max could never work it out but she wasn't going to question it. It had made her life moderately easier and for that she was thankful. She couldn't help but wonder what their friendship would have been like had things not reverted back to the way they were. While Victoria was outwardly a bitch, Max got to see a side to her that she figured people rarely got to see. And in a way Max sympathized with her.

Maybe one day they would be friends. It was a big maybe, but nobody could predict the future.

It started as a dull aching.

Max raised her hand to her chest and rubbed it gently, willing it to go. The feeling was all too familiar. She held her breath as the throbbing increased, the pressure building in her lungs until she felt ready to pass out. She moved her free hand to the corner of the desk, gripping it tightly and nervously glanced around. Everything began to warp around her, contorting in to weird shapes and colours, distorting her perception of what was real and what was not.

She blinked hard, as if that was enough to return her world to normal but nothing changed, in fact it had only seemed to make it worse. A high pitch ringing echoed mercilessly in her skull, the brunette moved her hand to her forehead and rubbed at it in an attempt to erase the pain. There was no letting up. She could feel a trickle of sweat roll down her forehead and over her brow before dropping on to the desk as if in slow motion. As if she herself was a camera taking photographs with a fast shutter speed to perfectly catch a moment in time that was too fast for the naked eye to see.

She looked around the classroom, no faces could be seen in the mess of colour. It was just her. Her heart began to race faster, and she could feel each palpitation as it rattled her weary body. She tried to scream, but her throat constricted as if someone or something had a grip around it, slowly squeezing the life from her. She panicked, but was still unable to make any kind of audible sound in response.

A tear fell from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek. Distraught and severely confused she tried to determine the cause, yet her brain had become too involved with the fear that had been induced to determine a logical solution to fix her current situation. She just wanted it to stop.

There was a vibration against her thigh.

Max looked up, her eyes opening and slowly settling on the scene of the class before her. The teacher had picked up and began talking where he had left off without a moment of hesitation. Her eyes met with Victoria's, a look of compassion clearly visible behind the bitch face she was currently portraying. Out of everyone in the room, she was the only one who had seemed to notice. Everything else was just as if it had never happened. As quickly as it happened it stopped as the blonde turned her attention back to the front of the room.

There was no time to contemplate Victoria's oddities as Max began to assess her situation. There now was no blurry vision, no contorted dimension. Everything was just as it had been. She continued to look, trying to find that small hint that something not quite right had occurred. That one small anomaly that would prove that she was not losing her mind. However, there was nothing.

There was a vibration again.

Looking down, she pulled her phone from her front pocket and switched the screen on. She was still very tense and shaken from the ordeal, but couldn't help but smile and feel moderately safe when she saw a message alert on her screen from Chloe. Sliding her finger across to unlock the phone, she clicked the Mail Icon to open her messages before clicking on Chloe's name.

It was over for now.

 ** _"Super Max, you, me, after school?_**

 ** _Don't even bother to reply, it's not like you have a choice._**

 ** _You could say no, but I'd just have to kidnap you again._**

 ** _Then again, that could be fun…_**

 ** _When do classes finish?"_**

Turning her phone screen, Max found that she could not wipe the smile from her face as she moved her thumbs to the LCD to begin typing back.

 ** _"Your Step Dad takes security pretty seriously here at Blackwell, I'd like to see you try and haul my ass out of here under his nose._**

 ** _4pm. :("_**

It was mere seconds before there was a reply, almost startling Max's weary mind as her phone vibrated in her hand.

 ** _"Is that a challenge?_**

 ** _NO EMOJI. Come on, Hippie."_**

Max knew that Chloe would have a shit eating grin on her face and was just waiting for Max to instigate her fun. Instead, Max chose not to.

 ** _"No. I'll come of my own free will."_**

And like clockwork, another attentive text.

 ** _"Killjoy._**

 ** _Max-Fun Sponge._**

 ** _The name Maxi-Pad makes so much sense now."_**

With a grin as big as Chloe's would have been, Max turned off her phone screen and stuffed it back in her pocket. She would have liked nothing better than to remain texting her friend, but figured she had best not test her luck with texting in class. She wasn't the most inconspicuous person, and being so clumsy she was bound to get caught. Her mind had almost completely put the incident before behind her.

Almost.

Then it struck her again. The brunette moved her hand to her forehead and rubbed at it in an attempt to erase the pain as it mercilessly struck her head. A low groan escaped her lips as her vision again blurred. The distorted dimension was back, this time worse than ever. It had happened quicker this time and she could not make out a single object to keep her grounded to reality.

She fought with herself internally to keep control over her body, but even that seemed to be failing her. Her mind felt foggy, like something was slowly beginning to seep in to it, attempting to make her forget what was real and what was not.

Then there was a flash of darkness around her, resembling that of the dark void that had once consumed her and she could feel that same blackness creeping its way towards her. As soon as it came, it left. In its place still the time distortion.

And then it flashed again, this time the darkness was closer, more foreboding.

Then she was back.

She cried silently, her eyes red as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. She wanted the real world back, not this warped perception being forced upon her. Squeezing her eyes closed she begged, pleaded for it to go.

Still nothing.

She could feel her lungs begin to fill with something that threatened to take her life. Drowning her and dragging her under, unaware that that feeling could be something as minute as fear, or something as impossible as time catching up with her. Clenching her fists shut until her knuckles turned white in both anger and pain, she stood up knocking the chair that she was sitting on back but it didn't hit the ground. She waited for the familiar sound of wood hitting the linoleum floor but there was nothing, it had just entirely disappeared altogether, just like everything else seemed to.

Reaching down her leg, she clawed at her pocket, desperately searching for her phone that was no longer there.

 _"Chloe will text me. Chloe will text me and I'll wake up."_ She reasoned.

But then it hit her, she had never text Chloe back.

The darkness was back now, causing her to fall to her knees, the abyss like ice against her skin. She dropped her head and fell forward on to her hands, her hair falling around and hiding her pained face. She hit the ground, an action that was becoming far too habitual for her liking but instead of pain there was nothing. Nothing in this reality was real.

She clutched desperately at her chest, pulling at her t-shirt in an attempt to will the pain to leave her body. For it to either make her forget and finally take her, or release her from it.

 _"Stop!"_ she screamed in anguish, the anxiety taking its toll on her. But even sounds seemed to just not exist.

The darkness that was creeping upon Max fell upon her, weighing her body down, wanting to pull her in to the darkness below. She fought it, resisting the urge to collapse against the pressure that was causing her entire body to ache.

Shaking her head, she began to doubt her perseverance. She couldn't do this alone. She was too weak.

And then finally, it took her. Faltering, she fell to one elbow first, closely followed by her other giving way until finally she just couldn't hold herself up anymore and she let go. As her body slipped through what felt like oil she closed her eyes, giving herself to whatever it was.

When she opened her eyes, she was back in the classroom, the teacher beginning where he had left off after the first incident. Victoria was staring at her sympathetically. With her eyes wide in disbelief, she felt her phone buzz against her thigh. With a gulp, she reached down and retrieved it. Tentatively unlocking it, there was a text from Chloe.

 ** _"Super Max, you, me, after school?"_**

* * *

 **Sorry for the late update, I had planned to get this up the same day as the last chapter but life caught up with me. As it does.**

 **As always, thanks for favouriting and following and feel free to leave me a review with any constructive critism or even if you're just happy with the direction this is heading. As motivated as I am to keep writing this, feedback always helps with it! I mean compliments, compliments are good.**

 **I can't promise all chapters will be this long, but I'm making an effort to give you guys a decent chunk to read. There is a 10k plus one coming soon, so prepare yourselves.**

 **Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read it up to this point. You guys are great.**


	6. Change

Max looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Raising her hand she poked and pulled at her cheeks as if looking for something to show that what happened in class actually did in fact happen because she was most certainly ready to pretend it didn't. However, the signs more definitely could not be ignored. The mirror was dirty with writing scrawled all over it in lipstick but she could see enough to make out her face. It looked exactly the same. Nothing at all was different.

Visibly shaken she leant forward and turned on the tap. Splashing cold water on her face, she again looked at her now wet face in the mirror. And again, it was the same.

She couldn't explain what had happened. Nothing about it made sense at all. She had been living with her powers for a year now, and nothing like this had occurred. Not since that first week.

Reaching out her hand she turned her palm upwards getting a feel for the weight of it before rotating it and reaching out. Taking a deep breath, she waited for the familiar warmth to spiral down her arm and in to her hand. She just needed to see, even I she only went back a second.

Nothing happened.

Closing her eyes, she further tried to concentrate but to no avail.

Just like earlier, panic took her. Closing her hand, she pulled it to her chest and took a deep breath, trying to pretend that she hadn't just tried and failed. Her rewind power wasn't working. She wasn't sure what had caused it, but deep down knew that it was linked to the earlier episode. However, she wasn't sure what any of it meant and that scared her. Again she was left uncertain of the future and that terrified her more than anything. She didn't want to believe it, but deep down she knew that it had to have had something to do with bringing back Chloe.

Shaking her head, she refused to believe the implications.

There was a sharp pain in her stomach that caused her to double over in pain. It couldn't happen, not like this. She had only just fixed everything, she wasn't ready for it to be ripped away from her. She turned from the mirror and ran to the bathroom stall. Slamming the door shut she dropped to her knees and vomited in the bowl. Her stomach constricted again and she dry heaved until she finally threw up more, the bile burning her oesophagus. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, staining the front of her shirt as they fell.

Nobody liked throwing up, and Max certainly was no different. Convulsions took her body as everything she had in her stomach left it, leaving behind an intense aching. But not even that feeling could rival her fear.

Finally finishing she sat back on the floor, resting her back against the wall she pulled her knees up and dropped her head, sobbing in to her knees.

She couldn't bring herself to leave the stall. She couldn't face them, she couldn't face any of them. She needed to get out of there, but she wasn't ready yet. Not like this. If they saw her like this, it would just be another thing for them to stare at her for, for them to whisper about her. And that was something she simply could not handle. She couldn't take any more of the unwanted attention that it would bring.

There was a bang as the door of the bathroom opened. Max held her breath, but no matter how much she wanted it to, she couldn't stop the sobs. Embarrassed, she did what she could to quiet herself and attempted to pretend that it was just her, no one else. That she was alone.

There was no such luck however.

"Um, hello…?" a familiar female voice asked unsure.

Max continued to hold her breath as there was a knock on the stall door, pretending she wasn't in there. But it was too late.

"Hey, are you okay? I heard you crying and…. You should open up."

Their voice was calm and caring and for the first time since the morning Max felt at ease. Though she couldn't ascertain why. Wiping her face on her sleeve she took a minute to attempt to compose herself. It didn't entirely work, but at least it was something. Slowly she rose to her feet and unlocked the door. Her stomach dropped when her eyes settled on the girl in front of her.

Victoria Chase.

Max nervously rubbed at her arm and looked down feeling small in that moment. She didn't think she could handle the shit Victoria would surely have to say to her.

"Oh Max, it's you…" her voice faltered. "Are you okay?"

Max went to speak but couldn't find her words. She wasn't okay. Her and Victoria were not friends but in that instance, she wanted to do nothing more than tell her everything just to get it off her chest. So it would be someone else's burden and she wouldn't have to do it alone. Instead she remained silent and nodded. As much as she wanted to, this was someone she couldn't even trust.

"Really Max?" she queried. "Because you don't look okay, even for you."

There is was.

"I'm okay, Victoria… Really." Max finally choked out with a forced smile. "I think I just have a stomach bug or something. No big."

"Look, I know we're not really friends." The blonde began, her face contorting in to a mix of emotions as if she was having an internal struggle. "But, you've always been nice to me. And if you ever need to talk… I know it can be hard. You weren't yourself in class, but you haven't been for a long time…. We don't have to be friends or anything, but we can talk."

Max felt a small smile tug at the corner of her lips. "Thanks Victoria. Likewise."

There was a silence that followed before both girls nodded to each other in acceptance before Victoria went in to one of the stalls and Max went back over to the mirror.

She looked like shit, even she had to admit that. She was surprised Victoria had not said anything much about it, but at the same time she was grateful. When you know something, you don't always need to hear it.

Turning away from the mirror with purpose, she exited the bathroom, wanting to leave before Victoria came out of her stall and she would be forced in to more conversation. She pushed open the heavy door with force for such a small girl. As it closed behind her, she dug in to her jean pocket and retrieved her phone to send a message.

More fear had taken hold of her as she considered the prospect that the earlier time tripping had changed things in this time line. She scrolled through the messages, thankful that Chloe's were still there.

Max began to furiously type.

 ** _"Come get me._**

 ** _Please."_**

She hit send.

Max strode with purpose towards the exit of the building, wanting nothing more than to get out of the busy, over crowded corridor. She likened the experience to earlier, with all the students a loud blur around her and making her anxious. She wanted to get out, she needed to get out. And it had to be now.

Her stomach churned and she quickened her pace, lengthening her stride with her goal in sight. And then she was out. Max stopped for a moment to take in the light as it pierced her skin. It felt nice, and a huge contrast to the cold darkness. She finally felt warm.

With her lower back resting against the cold brick wall of the car park fence, she waited for Chloe with apprehension. She wasn't even sure if she was coming, there had been no reply but she couldn't go back inside. She couldn't sit in class and risk it happening again. She needed to focus on something else so that there was no time for her to be able to revert back in to that distorted hell.

"Maximus Prime!" a low male voice to her right called.

Looking up, Max watched as Warren sauntered towards her as if he was overly trying to look cool and confident. As he reached her he raised his hand, palm facing towards her. She blinked at him for all too long before she realised that he was expecting a high five from her.

"Damn, Max. Harsh." He smiled warmly, choosing to run his fingers through his messy brunette hair in an attempt to hide the rejection. "Way to shoot a brother down."

Max returned the smile, even though slightly forced. "Someone has to keep you on your toes, Warren."

Warren took a spot beside Max, folding his arms across his chest. He had all the space in the world, but still he chose to stand close enough so that his elbow was grazing the exposed skin on her arm. "Who better than you. What are you up to, Max?"

She scuffed her feet on the ground. "Nothing." Her tone cold and distant. She entirely meant it, too. She was doing nothing. She wasn't even sure what she was going to do after that nothing.

"Even standing here is something." Warren joked, nudging her in the arm.

There was a nod. "I suppose you're right. You're always right, aren't you Warren?"

The boy smirked. "Well, I'm never wrong." His kind brown eyes fell to the cracked pavement at his feet. "I would ask if you are alright, but we both know how that is going to go. Instead, let's do something tonight Max! Like we used to. Movie marathon it. I'll even supply the snacks!"

"And what movies would you suggest?" Max raised an eyebrow.

Without pausing Warren began rambling. "Well, we could kick it old school. Start with some Back to the Future, Bill and Ted, Wayne's World, The Breakfast Club even!"

Max gave an audible groan. "No time movies."

"It doesn't have to be old school! We could watch some current flicks, or probably more for your personal taste some obscure hipster films?" he finished with a smile to complement his joking undertone.

Max leant to the side and nudged her shoulder back against Warren's arm. He wasn't much taller than she was, but it was enough for her to seem small compared to him. While she had become smaller in the last year and considerably more frail, Warren had flourished. While he was still very much a geek, he no longer was an overly skinny, dorky teenager. Though still a little on the thin side, he had filled out enough to make him more noticeable and attractive to the female population of Blackwell. And probably even some of the male population.

"I'm not really sure what I'll be doing later, Warren." Max began, not entirely sure where she was going with it. "I mean, I'd love to catch up with you. But I don't think today would be the best day." She smiled sympathetically at the boy as his eyes flickered briefly with sadness.

He gave a small chuckle in an attempt to hide his disappointment. "It's no problem, Max." he waved his hand in front of his body as if brushing it off. "There are always other days. An infinite number of them in fact. I'm sure one of them will suit eventually."

An infinite number. Max inwardly cringed. There never was an infinite number of anything. Everyone's days were numbered. Their time was all numbered. Especially hers. For all she knew, her days were severely numbered. However, the possibility of multiple outcomes was infinite. Anything could happen, whether it be good or bad.

Max sighed knowing she had been letting her friend down a lot this year. "Warren… How about tomorrow? Would you like to do something tomorrow? A proper catch up." In her mind she toyed with the concept of finally breaking down and letting him know what was happening. As a man of science, surely he would accept it. He could potentially come to some possible conclusion for her. Even help her attempt to figure it out. Either way, if they hung out tomorrow, she would have a day to figure out whether or not she wanted to go through with it. "Whatever you want to do, we'll do it."

"Yes!" a big grin crossed Warren's face. "Max and Warren, just like old times!" he laughed, pushing off from the wall. "I'll make sure there are snacks. A ton of them. All your favourites!" he exclaimed.

Max gave a genuine, but wary smile. "I'm looking forward to it. It's been too long since we've hung out."

"Yeah, it has. I'm glad you finally accept it because I was starting to wonder when Max would come back." He looked at her, his eyes burning in to her.

She pushed at his arm guiltily. "Shut up, Warren. I never went anywhere."

He playfully pushed her back. "If you say so, Max. But even you have to admit that you haven't entirely been here. Not for a long time. It's sort of sucked. I've…. Sort of missed you." He blushed, turning his attention to anywhere but Max.

"I've missed you too, Warren." Max began, mindlessly rubbing at the palm of her right hand. "I'm sorry… I just, I don't even know." She sighed. "I'm not sure where I've been, Warren."

He gave a nod in return, studying his friends face. "Don't sweat it, Max." he again waved his hand dismissively and turned to face her. "You're my friend, it's not like I was ever going anywhere. You're stuck with me now."

Max looked up in to his warm eyes, almost the complete opposite of her own eyes. They were comforting and inviting, her pale blue eyes on the other hand, much like their colour, were cold and distant. There were very few people Max felt truly safe around and while no one would rival that feeling with Chloe, Warren had always been one of them. Maybe that is why she had been drawn to him when she first arrived at Blackwell.

She hadn't really considered the fact that Warren had never left her before. That through everything he had been the one to stick with her, without question. And she had been so horrible to him, through it all. She had pushed him away when he may have been possibly able to help her. Max shook her head, no one could have helped her.

However, through all that he was still here. Still telling her that he would never leave. And while he was not the person she needed to hear it from, hearing it from someone was better than not hearing it from anyone. As selfish as that thought of hers was, she knew she wasn't wrong in thinking it. That she wasn't the only one who ever thought it.

She was broken from her daze when Warren gave a dorky chuckle and punched her lightly in the arm. "It's rude to stare, you know?"

She gave a small laugh back. "You're just so handsome, Warren. All the girls can't help but stare, I'm sure."

Warren straightened his posture and even though he knew she was joking, he couldn't help but take it as the biggest compliment. "Can't keep 'em off me."

Max rubbed at her arm where Warren had hit her, and although it was as light as it could have been, it still hurt. She hated that she was so weak, but she only had herself to blame for getting in to this state. She felt better though. It had only been one day but she felt better. And despite the earlier episode, she was optimistic that things would continue to get better. They had to. Chloe was back. Warren and she had begun to mend their friendship. Even Victoria had been nice to her.

"Max, if you do ever need to talk, about anything, you know I'm here when you're ready." His voice was calm and genuine to make Max feel at ease.

Max couldn't help but laugh in response. "You know, Victoria practically said the same thing." She paused and looked down at the ground. "It's been… a strange day."

Warren was in complete shock. "What? Victoria? The Victoria Chase? She was nice to you?"

She nodded, bringing her hand to her face as she continued to chuckle harder than she should have. "Yes, to all of those questions. It's hard to believe, but she's actually a nice person under all that bitch."

"All that bitch?" Warren cocked an eyebrow. "All that mega bitch. She made our lives hell, remember? Her and… Nathan."

Max stopped and looked up at Warren.

"Max, I'm sorry, I…." Warren began, taking a step towards his friend.

She held up her hand to stop him. "It's okay. It happened a long time ago."

Before Warren could speak there was a loud screech and the sound of a car backfiring. The sound made Max, as well as everyone in earshot on the campus cringe. They both looked up as a beat up, rusty truck pulled in to the school grounds. It stopped in front of the two, and the blue haired girl leant over in to the passenger to push the door open.

Chloe smiled at Max as the door opened wide enough with a creak to reveal her. "Get in, Hippie!"

Max turned to Warren and smiled. "I've gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Warren gave a nod, looking between Max and Chloe. "Sure, but what about the rest of classes?"

"I'm not feeling well, I'll sort it tomorrow." She replied with a wave of her hand and she stepped towards the truck and lifted her leg to climb in. She sat down in the passenger seat and shut the door, turning to look at Warren through the open window. "Warren… thank you."

The brunette boy scratched the back of his head and looked down, a faint blush crossing his cheeks. "Don't mention it… Later, Max."

* * *

Silence filled the car as they drove down the street and away from Blackwell. Max watched out the window as the houses flew by in a blur, and then watched as they turned to trees. She had wanted Chloe to come get her, but now that she was here she wasn't entirely sure what to say. Memories of the day had flooded her all at once and it was a bit over whelming. With a sigh, she dropped her chin down on the window frame of the door and continued to watch the world whizz passed her.

Chloe kept periodically glancing over at her. "Yo Max, sup?"

Max remained silent for a few moments however when she went to speak she found that she couldn't. Closing her mouth, she furrowed her brow, letting the cold air sting her cheeks.

"Hello, Max?" Chloe reached out a hand and placed it to the girls shoulder trying to illicit a response.

Max felt the butterflies in her stomach begin to stir at her touch. She turned her head and let her eyes rest on her friend before turning her attention back to the outside world. "I'm okay." She finally spoke.

Chloe gripped the steering while tightly, keeping her eyes fixed on the road in front of her. "Oh yeah? It's not four, you know."

"Yeah, I know…" she replied distantly. "I just… wasn't feeling very well."

The blue haired girl nodded sympathetically. "Are you okay, Max?"

"It's funny how many people have asked me that today." Sitting back in her chair, she stared out the front window at the road ahead of her. "I'm okay." She again stated as if trying to convince herself of that fact.

"You could have just gone back to your dorm to sleep, you know…?" Chloe cocked an eyebrow, glancing over to her friend. She wasn't entirely sure why she had been told to come collect the girl, not that she was complaining.

"I could have." Max agreed, still staring unblinkingly. "But I didn't. I text you and I waited."

Chloe nodded, even if only slightly understanding. "Well, alright then."

Max dragged her fingers through the front of her hair, combing her bangs back. Closing her eyes, she exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry. Today has both been good and sort of sucky. Chloe, thank you. For coming to get me."

Keeping her eyes on the road Chloe reached down in to the centre console of the truck and felt around, retrieving her pack of cigarettes. She brought the pack to her lips and took one of them between them before chucking the cigarettes back. Reach in to the front pocket of her jacket with her left hand she pulled out her lighter. Flicking it on, she raised it to the end of the cigarette while inhaling. She put the lighter back where she retrieved it from. "Anytime." She finally replied, exhaling the smoke. "Do you want to talk about it or no?"

Max didn't mind the smoke as it filled the car, she realised she didn't entirely hate the smell. Finally, she shook her head. "Not really. Not yet, at least."

"So, you and that Warren kid, huh?" Chloe queried to change the subject, purposefully keeping her eyes set ahead as she began to slow down and indicate to turn in to the beach carpark.

"Warren?" Max asked, turning to look at her. Why did she care about Warren?

Chloe shrugged. "He seems nice." She had met him when she too attended Blackwell, though they had never hung out being part of different 'groups'.

Max couldn't help but laugh. "Warren is a friend. He's a nice guy."

Chloe pulled in to the carpark and put the car in park. Shutting off the engine she rested her elbow out the window, continuing to take drags on her cigarette as she looked out over the ocean. "I'm a nice guy."

Max turned to face her, letting out a louder laugh than before. "Um Chloe, hate to break it to you but you sort of lack the one phallic object required to be a guy."

The blue hair girl smirked. "How would you know? For all you know I could have a little one down there."

"I've seen you naked, you weirdo. I know." She smiled a genuine smile.

"Hey, as I said, it was small. Plus, you haven't seen me naked in a long time, it might have grown some." Taking the last drag of her cigarette, she flicked the butt out the window before raising her fingers in front of her face and wiggling them. "Size doesn't matter though, I have these." She stated matter of fact, all too proud of herself.

Blushing deep scarlet, Max pushed at her hands to get her to drop them. Her heart skipped a beat as Chloe chuckled and she adverted her attention to her feet.

"Chill, Max. It was a joke." Chloe grinned, quite thrilled she had gotten a rise from her friend. She opened the car door and turned to slide out. "Plus, we all know you're in to the guys." With that said, she shut the door.

Max went to speak, but stopped. Even if she had said something, she would have been cut off by the door slamming. She watched Chloe from inside the truck as she raised her bare arms above her head and stretched before untying her shoes and removing them. She took a step from the asphalt to the sand. She smiled as the girl began to hop around, the heat from the sand burning the sensitive underside of her feet.

This was enough to keep her going.

Slipping out of the car she followed Chloe's lead. Taking off her worn shoes, she jogged across the sand to catch up to her, and then quickening her pace she ran passed her.

"I'll race you!" she yelled, already breathless. She was so out of shape. "I'm going to win!"

Chloe smirked. "Like hell you will!" she yelled back, moving to chase after her friend.

Max ran as fast as she could but could no longer stop the uncontrollable laughter as it took her. That, and her legs were not as long as Chloe's therefore for every one of her steps Chloe took two or three, or so that's what she told herself when she was finally caught up with.

There was triumphant laughter and a fist pump and the blue haired girl reached the water line. "Chloe Price never loses, you better recognise, Caulfield."

With a childish pout, Max dove at Chloe. Wrapping her arms around her neck, she latched on to her back with her arms tightly around her neck for support. "No fair, you cheated."

"You had a head start! How did I cheat?!" Although Max weighed nothing and Chloe could easily bare her weight, she was laughing too hard to even support herself. She flailed her arms about trying to steady herself.

"Your legs are longer than mine." Max continued to pout, trying not to give way to the grin that was desperately seeking to escape. Wiggling on Chloe's back, she brought her hands up to cover her friend's eyes.

"That doesn't make me a cheat! Just a perfectly proportioned adult." Chloe quipped. However, now unable to see, she quickly began to topple over and the two of them fell down in to the shallow water.

Laughing so hard she couldn't stop, Max swiped some of the salty water at her friend before wrapping her arms around her waist. Chloe didn't fare much better as she was on her back, her body racked with convulsions of laughter. There was nothing the two could do except wait it out.

Finally regaining composure, Max wiped at the tears that had fallen from her eyes as she struggled to breathe. She allowed one more chuckle to escape her lips before beginning to chastise Chloe. "I'm all wet now! You couldn't have stayed upright? You're practically a tree."

"Oh shut up, Hippie." Chloe mused, splashing water in to her friends face. She stopped laughing and smiled widely at her friend to the point that her cheeks hurt.

Max stared back, a grin that mirrored Chloe's on her face. In that instant, she took a moment to appreciate her friend- not like she hadn't been doing that for the last day but for the first time since this morning.

Her lips always looked so perfect, always so kissable. She wasn't sure how she accomplished it. In a way, Max was jealous. She hated her lips, they didn't have the faint redness of Chloe's. Or the fullness. And then there was her nose, sat perfectly symmetrical on her face. And quite possibly the cutest nose she had ever seen. Her skin was porcelain and flawless, glowing in the light from the sun. Being Chloe, Max knew that she wouldn't have done anything to skin other than washing it in the shower, but still it remained so unblemished. Finally, her eyes. A blue as bright as some aspects of the ocean they were sitting in. Pretty enough to rival anyone's.

She blushed, realising she had been staring and looked away, not realising that her blue eyed friend had also been transfixed on her.

Standing up, in a way she shook off like a dog. Reaching her hand down, she held it out to Chloe who accepted by reaching up and taking Max's hand in hers. Max helped lift her to her feet and surprising to both the girls, pulled her in for a tight hug.

Max gripped the back of Chloe's wet shirt tightly and rested her head on the girl's chest. She could feel her heart beat quicken as it thumped against her ear. It took Chloe a moment, but the shock on her face softened and she smiled as wrapped her arms around her friend.

"It's going to be okay, Max." Chloe breathed quietly in her ear.

* * *

The two girls laid back on the dry sand, spread out in an attempt to dry their clothes because god forbid the seat's in Chloe's fancy 'ride' got wet. Max had argued that that would have been the least of the car's problems but Chloe had insisted.

Resting her arms over her eyes to shield them from the sun, Max lay peacefully absorbing the warmth she was feeling. Both from the sun and the affection her friend had shown her. It was nice to just be held once in a while when you needed it.

Today had sucked, but at least it was ending on a good note.

Taking deep even breathes, she clenched her right fist shut, shaking it out to dispel the ache that was beginning to throb within it. She wasn't ready to lose everything that had just happened. It had been the perfect afternoon. She needed to control her power, something she had never even considered the prospect of before. Well, she had never had to before. What had happened this morning could not happen again, and she would do what she could to stop that. Even if that meant putting in time and effort to work on a way to control it.

Moments like this couldn't be undone or forgotten. Well, for her at least. But she couldn't help but be tempted to pose the question to Chloe. A Chloe that didn't know that going back in time was a possibility.

"Chloe?" she asked, apprehensive at first, only feeling okay to proceed when she felt the sand shift beside her. "Is there anything you would do over again if given the chance? Like, go back in time and change it?"

Chloe thought hard for a moment. "I'd like to say no... I mean, I like to live my life doing all the stupid things I want just so I won't have those regrets. But sometimes even I have this nagging feeling. Like if I could go back and do something slightly different, things would be different." She paused, contemplating the scenarios in her head that she would change. "Like if I could have stopped my dad that day, maybe he would still be here and maybe you never would have left…"

Max swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew exactly what would become of this timeline had William not died that day, but she couldn't tell Chloe that. She couldn't tell her friend that she had nobly tried to save her father for her, only to have it thrown back in her face down the line.

"But…" Chloe continued. "No, no I wouldn't want to change anything. If those things hadn't happened, we wouldn't be who we are today. And maybe we wouldn't be here now." Her words were quiet, but brave.

Max nodded in acknowledgement.

Chloe turned her head to the side to look at Max. "What about you? Would you change anything if you could?"

Max clenched her eyes shut. If only her friend knew. She thought hard about all the consequences her power had had on time. "In life, there are no re-do's. And if there were, I don't think things would work out how you would expect them to."

Chloe yawned and rested her head back. "Isn't that the truth. Well, we'll just have to make sure that we have no regrets from now on, won't we?"

"How do you propose we do that?" Max asked, genuinely interested in what her friends would have to say on the matter.

Chloe thought hard for a second before bringing her hands to her face. "I don't know! And I don't really care, we'll figure it out."

"Okay, Chloe…" Max finally said uncertainly, not entirely sure she could believe her friend even though she wanted to. The sentiment was nice though.

"Really. The last year sucked, Caulfield. The last two years, even. Maybe even the last six." Chloe groaned, pushing herself up in to a sitting position. "I don't know about you, but I'm definitely ready for things to get better."

Max sighed. "It's not that, Chlo. It's not that I don't want things to get better."

She gazed down at her friend, realising in that moment how small her friend was, "What is it, Max?"

Sitting up, Max looked down between her legs. "Because no matter what I want, no matter how I want things to go there is always that fear, that insecurity in the back of my mind. The one that tells me that everything is going to go wrong. That when everything is good, makes sure I can never be happy for long. Chloe, I…."

To Max's surprise, Chloe laughed.

"You're an idiot. We all feel like that, we all have that." Standing up, Chloe stretched, staring out in to the water. "Take the ocean for example. It's endless and uncertain. When you step in to it, you don't know what's there but you trust in yourself and it. In life, there's always the possibility that you're going to drown- Physically and metaphorically. It's up to you what you do with that information though. Whether you go through life with all these doubts and fears and let them control and consume you, or you take those doubts and those fears and each day you kick their ass."

"Chloe…" Max began, looking up to her friend. She had never heard her be so positive and inspiring before. Nor could she be any more attractive than right now.

"No Max, don't give me some bullshit excuse. Think about it. Life is what you make of it. You're in control of your own destiny." Chloe looked down at Max and smiled warmly at her. "And I hope you choose to kick it's ass with me, Partner in Crime, because it wouldn't be nearly as much fun without you."

Max smiled, recalling the time they had broken in to Principal Wells' office, or even the countless times as children they had got up to mischief. "I'd make a terrible Partner in Crime, I'd get you caught for sure, Price. And you're much too pretty for prison."

Chloe sat back down close to her friend and leant her shoulder against her. "If I'm going to prison, you're going to prison too. And the big, bad Max would have to protect me."

Max laughed and linked her arm with Chloe's, resting her head on her shoulder. It felt natural. "You'd have to be my prison bitch. That way no one would mess with you because they knew your ass would be mine. With that being said though, you'd have to make it worth it for me."

Chloe cocked a brow. "Make it worth it, huh?"

Max hit her in the thigh. "You have a one track mind, you know that, right?"

"It works for me." Chloe shrugged. "Plus, it can make life interesting. And it's not ONE track. There are other equally important tracks..." Chloe trailed off, feeling slightly embarrassed about being called out.

Max smirked. "Oh, please do tell."

Chloe's cheeks deepened red, though instead of making a joke about the situation, or walking away she took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking. "Max, I… Lately I've had this weird feeling. So no, -that- particular thing isn't always on my mind. I don't know, I'm not a kid anymore, Max." She sighed, playing with the sand in front of her. "I can't really describe this feeling, or even what it means but it's just there. And when I'm around you…" she laughed. "I guess that's irrelevant. What I'm trying to say is that I guess it's time for me to grow up."

The brunette smiled and nudged her friend. "Look at you, being an adult."

"Shut up." Chloe scoffed. "We're not little kids anymore, you know? I can't run around selling drugs with Frank my entire life. I think…" she paused, having trouble saying the words. As if she didn't believe them herself. "I think I'm better than that."

Max laughed. "Wowser, Chloe. You ARE better than that, you idiot."

Chloe waved her hands dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Shut up, okay?"

She patted Chloe's leg. "You need to think more highly of yourself, Miss. Price. I mean, obviously I think the world of you. You should start seeing that in yourself. Cocky Chloe is the best Chloe after all."

The blue haired girl shook her head. "It's strange. Last week I wasn't thinking ahead, I don't think I was capable of thinking to the future. Didn't think I'd make it, you know?" she played with her fingers nervously. "Up until yesterday I had this feeling that I was dead. Well, not dead because I'm alive, obviously. But that I wasn't living. Not breathing. And I…" she ran her fingers through her hair, mentally cursing herself for not having a cigarette on her. "Ah, shit. I'm not good at this."

Resting her cheek on her knees, she turned her head to watch Chloe as she internally struggled. She smiled. It was nice seeing Chloe consider her future. She had definitely changed since the week they had spent together. It was a good thing.

It was hard for Max to accept the fact that up until Chloe had come back to her, she had felt like she wasn't living. The fact that she felt it, that she knew that she wasn't alive intrigued her. She wanted to know more, ask as many questions as she could about it but she couldn't push Chloe in to talking. That was the last thing she wanted to do. Instead she could only sit and listen. The fact that she knew however, could possibly mean that maybe one day she would remember. Or that's what Max wanted to believe.

Chloe groaned. "Don't look at me like that, Max."

"Like what?" she asked confused, she hadn't realised she had been staring.

"Like I'm somebody." Chloe began building a small sandcastle at her feet.

Max gave a kind smile. "You are somebody. Everyone is somebody."

"That's stupid." Chloe knocked over her sandcastle before stretching out her legs in front of her. "Anyways, shut up now. Enough sentimental crap. I'm back, you're back, let's just kick life's ass now, okay? So shut up about it, or I'll kick your ass."

Max looked out to the sunset that was now beginning to tuck itself behind the ocean in the distance. The water was almost eerily calm, as the tide came in and left with minimal sound. The two girls sat in silence together, watching the sun go down. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, it had never been uncomfortable between the two girls. Taking a deep breath, Max split her focus between the view of the sunset and the view of her friend.

Both were almost equally as beautiful. Though, one definitely more captivating than the other.

"So, you feel as if you want to make something of yourself..." Max began. "What do you think you'd like to do?"

Chloe furrowed her brows. "I don't know, man. I'm not good at things like you are. You have photography and I… I've never been really good at anything. Never excelled." She grinned. "Well, unless you count selling drugs. Or smoking them…"

Max rolled her eyes. "Forever funny. Maybe you should just be a comedian."

"It's an option." Chloe agreed before her stomach grumbled. Looking down, she rubbed at her gut. "Hey, it's getting late. Do you want to go grab some dinner before I drop you back off? I'm starving."

Max smiled and nudged her friend. "Why Chloe, are you asking me out on a date?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Max. If that's what you want to call it."

"Let me check my schedule… Hm. Sorry, can't. I'm busy." Max jested, rubbing at her chest as she yawned.

Chloe scoffed and rose to her feet. "Suit yourself. If that's the case, I'll go by myself. More food for me, hippie. After dusting herself off she turned to walk away.

Max whined and jumped up, grabbing Chloe's hand to stop her. She blushed at the contact. "I was only kidding! Take me with you. I'm hungry too."

The blue haired girl smirked, pulling her friend along to her truck. "You can make it up to me. We'll go see, mum. I'll let her feed you up again, she'll love that."

* * *

 **I'm currently too tired to read through this/edit this/add more to this, so potentially when I wake up, I'll do all those things. But for now, it's up. And that's something. Which is entirely better than nothing.**

 **A lot of Character building in this chapter. The next chapter will mainly focus on Max and her powers/issues with said powers.**

 **Hope you're all enjoying it so far.**


	7. Others

Max laid on the bed, resting back on her elbows as she stared seductively at the blue haired girl who stood at the end the bed. Things had escalated rather quickly once they had entered Chloe's room and Max had taken control. She could no longer hold off her emotions and desires, she had to act on them. Max had never been one to easily take control of anything, nor had she often had the desire to. She had been quite content flying under the radar, anything to get her by and unnoticed. But now, now she could no longer do that.

A playful smirk crossed Max's lips as she looked Chloe up and down, taking in every aspect of her, from the gentle curves of her body to the way her hair hung and framed her face. She wanted to grab her, dig her nails in to her skin, kiss her and dominate her. But not just yet. It would happen all in good time and she had to be good and patient.

"Chloe." Max began, her tone commanding. "Take it off."

A blush graced Chloe's cheeks as she looked down, in that moment never seeming smaller. She paused being conflicted in the moment. Struggling between wanting to give in to her own desires while listening to her friend's demands and stopping the whole thing. After all, she had never even considered the fact that this would happen, that Max would take control like this. She didn't even know that Max was capable it. And maybe that's where she went wrong, thinking her friend wasn't able to do something, when clearly she could do anything.

Chloe's hands trembled as her slender fingers reached down and grasped the hem of her tank top, delicately holding the fabric between them as she paused briefly.

Max watched with hungry eyes as Chloe slowly began to lift her shirt. Her eyes travelled the curves of her body. First her hips, followed by her flat, almost toned stomach and right up her naval. Her smirk returned when Chloe lifted the shirt higher exposing her covered breasts and finally pulled it over her head, allowing it to drop to the floor. The blue haired girl was quick to attempt to hide her body with her arms.

She looked perfect.

Chloe had never been embarrassed before. She had never had any issues with her body or exposing it. However, with the way Max was looking at her she couldn't help it. No one had looked at her that way before.

"The pants." Max growled, earning a startled jump from her newly shy friend.

Chloe complied, sliding the material down her thighs before kicking them awkwardly to the side. She could only stand there stiffly and half naked in front of Max. She burned with desire yet she could not make herself move. Max just happened to have the authority of her every move, despite the internal struggle she was having within. Chloe was always in control and she held that control without restriction, the fact that she could not take that control now deeply unsettled her.

Max eye fucked her friend, taking in every bare inch of flesh and wanting more. She needed her naked but for now she would control herself. Allowing herself to take in everything that was Chloe. She would take it slow and savour every moment because who knew when a chance like this would present itself again. And after all, she finally had the upper hand.

She was torn between wanting to watch Chloe undress herself and undressing her herself. Each way had its own merits. If she were to watch her undress, she wouldn't miss anything. Her eyes wouldn't miss a single inch of her and Chloe would know without a doubt that she was in control. On the other hand, if she were to take the rest of her clothes off for her, she could touch her, feel her skin beneath her fingers and be the one to make Chloe moan.

Max weighed up the options in her mind before choosing the later. She couldn't have any more distance between them. She would lose her edge if she had to wait any longer and that certainly would not do in this situation.

She moved down the bed until she was sitting at the foot of it, practically between Chloe's legs. Looking up at her, she gave an uncharacteristic confident smirk. Reaching out, she placed both her hands to her stomach, sliding them up her soft skin and over the front of her bra. She traced her fingers around the edge of each cup, earning a delicate moan from Chloe.

"Off." Max instructed, her eyes glued to Chloe's chest.

Looking to the side, Chloe reached behind her back, nervously fumbling with the clasp. Her increasingly trembling fingers finding it impossible to undo it. Her moderately calm exterior gave way to panic. She wanted to please Max but her body was betraying her.

"Now." Max growled.

She watched silently as Chloe finally managed to unhook her bra, slowly sliding each strap down her arms before letting it drop to the ground. Max cupped Chloe's supple breasts in her hands, giving them a rough squeeze and earning a cry from Chloe. A sly smile crossed her face as she took each nipple between her fingers and gave them a sharp tug. Chloe bit her lip hard, trying to hide any the fact the she was enjoying it so Max would stop her tirade and allow her to take control. There was no such luck however.

Moving her hands to Chloe's hips, Max dug her nails in to her skin, pulling her closer to her body. Chloe reached up, running her hands over Max's cheeks before leaning down to kiss her. Softly at first, but as Max tugged on her lower lip, the kiss was quick to deepen as they explored each other's mouths. Max pulled at Chloe, wanting her nearer as she laid back on the bed, dragging Chloe with her as she moved up to the pillows to lay the back of her head on them.

Max shifted her leg between Chloe's, and lifted her knee against her crotch earning a stifled moan. Chloe dropped her body against it, ever so lightly grinding down against her thigh as if trying to hide the fact from Max. Sitting up, Max brushed her lips against the base of Chloe's neck, sucking the pale skin before roughly tugging it with her teeth and biting down, leaving a trail of marks up to her jaw line where she placed delicate pecks along it. She could feel her friends wetness against her skin as she pushed her leg harder in to her, almost losing herself to the desire.

Chloe separated enough to stare in to her friend's eyes, seeing a fire she had never seen before. There was a dull pain in her chest as her heart thumped hard within its cavity, she couldn't wait any longer.

Max stared back, furrowing her brows. "You're mine." She commanded, in a deep, soothing tone. She was demanding, not at all asking. Reaching up she wrapped her arms around Chloe's neck, pulling her lips back down to hers before breathing heavily against them. "Chloe, you're mine." She again repeated, taking her lips in a passionate embrace.

* * *

Max woke up startled and sitting up in her bed. She was sweaty and dazed, the dream finally coming back and hitting her all at once. Her heart was racing, thumping hard in her chest and she could feel the dampness between her legs. With a groan she fell back down, pulling her pillow over her face. Holding it tightly over it she quietly and quite dramatically screamed.

"God." She finally muttered, pulling the pillow away and staring at the ceiling.

It was bad enough that she couldn't get Chloe off her mind since she had been back, and the fact that she was having to deal with the demise of her powers, now she had to deal with the issue of wet dreams too?

"I'm an adult for Christ sake." There was another loud groan as Max fought with her body, trying to get it under control but it was coming increasingly hard as the dream kept replaying in her head and she mentally began to kick herself for waking up before it was finished.

Her hand found its way to her stomach, pulling up her singlet she gently brushed her finger tips against her bare hip feeling electricity shoot through her body at the touch. Biting her lower lip, she slid her hand lower until just the very tips of her fingers were under the waist of her panties. As she was about to go lower her phone buzzed. Closing her eyes she ignored it, allowing her hand to slip in to them. Her phone buzzed again.

And then again.

With a groan she removed her hand and rolled over, taking her phone from the bed side table her eyes fell on her alarm clock briefly. It was too early. Unlocking it, she opened her messages, her heart skipping a beat seeing it was from Chloe. No matter where she turned she was there. She clicked the message to read it.

 ** _"Yo, Super-Max._**

 ** _Just wanted to let you know that you're an idiot._**

 ** _And I had fun yesterday, even though I was hanging out with you._**

 ** _Let's bro down again today"_**

Max smiled before typing her response.

 ** _"Too early to function._**

 ** _Sleep."_**

Max hugged her phone to her chest, a broad smile on her face.

It was hard for her to imagine that just a couple of days ago she had been all alone, and now she had her best friend back. She couldn't even begin to fathom how much had changed in those days. She was beginning to feel whole again and while there was still a long way to go before she was there, she couldn't help but feel happy about the prospect.

It was something to look forward to. Knowing that one day she could feel whole again. That that empty feeling constantly nagging her would someday go away.

Maybe it was time to tell Chloe how she felt? It had only been a few days but it was like they had picked up right where they had let off. What was the worst that could happen? Chloe could reject her, and she could lose her forever or Chloe could reject her and they could remain friends or, and hopefully the more likely of the situation, Chloe would share her feelings and maybe they could see where it would go.

However, even though there was a possibility of it turning out alright, she was still very pessimistic about the outcome. Max promised herself she would consider it, but at the moment she was happy with hanging out. For now, until she built up the courage, that would be enough.

Though, as happy as she was there was still a nagging in the back of her mind. One that she wouldn't always be able to ignore. And maybe it was time for her to finally address it. As hard as it would be it would be better to deal with it now. That way she could tell Chloe, finally tell her about everything without the issue of the fact that she could potentially without warning reverse time again and mess everything up. She could finally tell Chloe how she felt about her once she didn't have the fear in the back of her mind.

Her powers would not allow her to be happy until they were back under control. She had to do it.

With a belated sigh Max finally lifted herself from the bed. Walking over to her desk, she lazily sat down in front of the computer and switched it on.

Maybe the internet would have the answer? You could find everything there so why not something about this? Someone out there had to know something to do with it, something to help her or maybe she would find someone like her. Someone with the same cursed powers.

Opening her browser, she began to type in the search bar starting with a vague search of 'Rewind Power". Doing a brief search she found nothing but theories of alternate universes and potential outcomes of time travel on them. Namely, that they would be fucked up. Not wanting to read any more about that, she closed to the page and continued her search.

She had fucked up everything, she knew she had. But she had fixed it. But what if she had fucked it again by bringing Chloe back? She couldn't even consider that right now. She couldn't think the worst. Not until it actually became a reality.

An hour passed and she was just about ready to give up when a small obscure thread on a noticeboard caught her attention. Clicking it, she opened the page and was met with a small paragraph from someone claiming to be able to rewind time. There was no name, or thumbnail and no proof of its authenticity nor even where this person was located. They were asking if anyone else had experienced the same thing they had, but had only seemed to be met with ridicule and internet trolls.

Despite all the underwhelming evidence it was legitimate, it was still the only lead she had. However, the thread had been started a little under a year ago, meaning that whoever was behind it probably had long forgotten it. But still, she had to try.

The brunette signed up for an account, choosing to instead privately message the individual rather than posting in the thread. Hopefully meaning she would come across more genuine and if they did happen to read it would take her more seriously. If this person did in fact share the same powers as her, then she wouldn't be alone. There would be more people out there like her.

Had they fucked up time like she had?

Taking a deep breath she stretched her fingers before settling them on the keyboard and began to write. It needed to be perfect.

* * *

 _Sorry for the short chapter, I wanted to get something up for you guys today so I figure better short than nothing..._

 _I'm currently already working on the next chapter so it'll be up in the next couple of days!_

 _Thanks for all the continued support. I look forard to reading more reviews from everyone._


	8. Chaos Theory

Max stood up from the computer and stretched, finally happy with her response she had held her breath as she sent it. She wasn't sure where it would lead, if it would lead anywhere. Nor was she sure what would happen if there was a legitimate response. But trying was better than nothing, and she most certainly had to try if she wanted any sort of normalcy in her life. If she wanted any remanence of a normal life she would have to fight for it. And fight hard was something she was willing to do.

Closing her eyes she ran her fingers through her long brown hair, in the back of her mind thinking that it was time for a haircut. She shook out the tingle in her right hand before walking over her drawers to fetch her clothes for the day. The weather was warm so it didn't take her long to settle on a tank top, red plaid shirt and black stockings with black shorts. She was very much a hipster after all. She began to pull on her shirt but again, she attempted to shake out the nagging tingling feeling in her hand that was moving up her arm. Failing, with a sigh she put on her tank top and shirt.

With a frown she picked up her phone, reading her unread messages. The first being a reply from Chloe. That aspect of the morning brought a smile to her face.

 ** _"Get up, Hippie!_**

 ** _Come on, Super-Max. You can't still be sleeping."_**

Max smiled bigger, feeling a small pang in her heart as she typed her message. She wouldn't be able to see Chloe today.

" ** _The super hero is awake. Sorry, I got caught up in some stuff._**

 ** _I can't hang out today. I promised Warren we'd do something._**

 ** _So no bro-ing down today._**

 ** _):"_**

Closing that message thread she clicked the next one from Warren.

 ** _"Mad- Max! We still on for tonight? I'm so looking forward to it."_**

She began to type her reply.

 ** _"We're on, Warren. If we're going to be nerdy, you could say like 'Donkey Kong'?"_**

Max chuckled to herself knowing how lame that line was. There was an immediate reply from Warren.

 ** _"Yes! We'll get so nerdy. I'll come get you after school."_**

As Max stuffed her phone in her pocket, she was startled by a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she yelled, busying herself with her back pack, trying to cram all her text books in it.

There was a small creak as the door opened and whomever was there stepped in to her room. There was silence as no one spoke. Unsure Max looked over her shoulder to see none other than Victoria standing there. A sight she thought she would never see. Standing up straight, she turned around to face her.

Rubbing at her arm Victoria nervously stared at the ground. A slight blush was painted across her cheeks. The normally confident and never embarrassed Victoria Chase was in her room being the opposite of those things. It took Max a second for her to figure out that she still hadn't put her pants on yet. Regardless, being a girls' dorm Victoria would have seen so many girls in this way. She should definitely be used to it by now.

"Sorry…" Max breathed with a sigh as she grabbed her shorts and stockings off the couch and quickly threw them on.

"No… it's okay." Victoria finally mumbled. "Is this okay? I mean, is it okay if we talk? That I'm here?" her words were shaky and unsure.

When Max woke up this morning, this is not how she saw her day going. "Yeah, Victoria. It's okay. What's up?" she sat down on the side of her bed and stared at the girl only in that instance realising that she seemed as frail as herself.

Victoria looked up and stared Max in the eyes. "Max… do you think…" she paused, obviously having trouble with her words. "Do you ever think about it? Nathan and Mr Jefferson. Rachel Amber… Everything."

Max stared back at her, unsure if she even wanted to be having this conversation. She had kept it bottled up for too long and she wasn't quite sure if she should let it go now, or even if she could let it go now. Especially to someone like Victoria Chase.

Regardless of their past, Max felt some sort of bond with the girl. They had been through a lot together, even if not in this time. Max saw something when she looked in to her eyes, something that they both shared but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

There was a long pause and something flickered behind Victoria's blue eyes. Fear and uncertainty was the only thing Max could deduce.

"Sorry, Max. I shouldn't be here. I'll go." She muttered, turning to grasp the door handle.

"No. Stay." Max finally choked out. There was no time like the present to face her fears.

Victoria turned and Max gave her a small reassuring nod. She shook her head before taking a seat on Max's small, quaint couch. "Do you?" she asked again.

There was an audible sigh as Max searched for the words.

"Yes. Every day." Max studied the girl before her. Obviously there was something eating her up. The same fear Max felt, the same isolation. They were more alike than she had realised. "I think about it every day. There's… There's a lot more to the story than people realise, Victoria, and I… I have to deal with that every day. So yes. I think about it every day. All the time."

Victoria gave a small curt nod. "Max." she began in that way that makes people's heart stop, as if they're preparing to say something terrible that will crush someone. "I've been having these dreams lately…" she paused, realising in her head just how crazy she was going to sound but she had to continue. "Like, crazy weird messed up dreams. I know we're not friends, but there's something… something there." She looked up to Max for validation.

Max shook her head. "Victoria, I…"

"Max." she was cut off. "I know they're dreams but they're far too real to be just that. Every night, Max. You're there. I never even went to that fucking bunker but every night I'm there and you're there Max… you're there. I know exactly what it looks like." Victoria buried her face in her hands.

Max knitted her brows together and studied the distressed girl on her couch. How could she even know that? It never happened. None of that ever happened in this time line. Max had never gone to the bunker either. She only remembered because –she- had changed it.

"I'm not crazy, Max." she whispered quietly as if trying to convince herself of that fact.

Max looked sympathetically at the short haired girl. "Victoria, you're not crazy…" she began, rising to her feet to sit beside her. "You're not." She rested her hand on Victoria's thigh reassuringly. She was unsure what to say. More so what she could say to comfort her. Surely she couldn't tell her the whole thing. Then Victoria would think she was crazy.

"I don't know what's going on anymore, Max." Victoria sobbed. "And Nathan… I visited him, Max. He's so fucked. They have him on so many meds."

Max pursed her lips. "You went and saw Nathan?"

"I know. I know what he did. How he helped…" she looked down. "I know okay… But he was… and I had to know. I had to see for myself. I wanted answers, but he couldn't. It was a mistake."

"Victoria. It's okay, you know? It is." Max turned her attention to the blonde and studied her carefully.

"It's not though, is it? Ever since then, everything has been fucked up. I'm not the same person anymore. I couldn't ever be that person again." Her words were quiet and almost inaudible.

Max thought hard, trying to figure how best to approach the situation. She needed to figure out just how much Victoria knew without pushing her too far. What if everyone else she had affected also had these memories?

"Hey Victoria, these dreams, do you remember much of them? Can you tell me about them?" she asked in a soothing tone, giving Victoria's thigh a squeeze. "Please?"

"Everything. I remember every god damn part of them." Victoria balled her hand in to a fist. "You know something too Max. I see it in your eyes some times."

Max gave a small nod, knowing now why she often caught Victoria staring at her. "Your dreams Victoria, please tell me about them." She couldn't let her ask any more questions, she had to keep her on topic. She wouldn't know what to say if Victoria started bombarding her with questions about what she was seeing.

"It all feels too real, Max. There was a vortex club party and… Nathan drugged me. He actually drugged me. I… We were in Mr. Jefferson's bunker. He killed you, Max. I watched as he killed you. I saw it. And then me. Time and time again. And then I watched as you stopped him. I don't know how, but I saw you die. But then you were also alive and you and Mr. Madsen stopped him." Victoria stopped, her words beginning to fail her.

Confused, Max looked down. It wasn't just one time line Victoria was recalling, it was many. All the times she had to rewind to get it just right, Victoria recalled. She somehow knew.

"It all happened so many times. But it can't have happened. Can it have, Max?" Victoria looked at Max hopeful.

"Victoria, I…" she began, wanting to break down and tell her everything. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked back in to Victoria's. "You're not crazy Victoria. Don't ever think you are. I don't know how to explain it all and I need to figure it out. I know you have questions, but I need time. Please accept that. I'll always be here if you need to talk." She paused, fearing she had said too much. "We need to get to class though. We can talk more later?"

Victoria gave a slow nod. "Max, I'm sorry… For everything. How I treated you. I mean, I remember things I'm not entirely sure happened, but if they did I'm so sorry." Swallowing the lump in her throat, she softened her voice. "Truth is, I always thought you were pretty cool. Always so carefree, you never cared what anyone thought of you. I wanted so much to be like that but I didn't know how to be. And I guess I took that out on you."

Max smiled and waved her hand dismissively. "It's okay, Victoria. There are no hard feelings. I think we both just misunderstood each other before. It happens. I like you though, Victoria. We should hang out more often."

Victoria gave a smile to match Max's, the first genuine smile Max had ever seen from the girl. "Thank you, Max. You don't know how much that means to me."

Max just continued to smile lazily back. "Come on you, we've got photography first. Let's head over together."

* * *

Max relaxed back on Warren's couch, her arms resting behind her head as she stared at the ceiling. Today had been strange and she couldn't wait to get home and sleep it off. She watched the ceiling fan whirl round and round, hypnotising her attention. While she was excited to hang out with Warren, there were too many other things on her mind to thoroughly enjoy it and that definitely was not fair to him.

"Soda, Max?" Warren called from the fridge.

"Yeah, why not." She called back. "Snacks too. I'm starving."

Warren gave a laugh and walked over to her with two sodas and some chips. Handing them to her he took a seat beside her, leaning as far back as he could. "Man, I'm beat." He sighed, picking up the T.V remote to turn it on.

Max gave a nod. "Me too. This week has been so long."

With his neck resting on the top back of the sofa, he turned his head enough to look at her. "Oh yeah? Fill me in on the going on's of Max. I feel like I haven't seen you in the longest time. Well, talked to you I suppose."

Max gave a groan and wiggled childishly on the spot. "Waaaarreeenn. Come on, let's not talk about such boring things."

Warren nudged her with his foot. "You're so childish sometimes. Just fill me in, Mad-Max. I wanna know the happs."

"Fiiine." She gave a highly audible sigh in the most dramatic of fashions. "Victoria and I have entered a stale mate. We've declared a truce and may even be friends. If you had have told me that was going to happen this week, I probably would have bet a million dollars against it." She rubbed at her forehead, remembering their conversation this morning.

There was no way Victoria was going to drop it. She needed to seriously think about how much she was going to tell her. More importantly how she was going to deflect all her questions.

"Whoa, what?" Warren questioned, sitting up. "You and Victoria? Man, what is the world coming to? An end?"

Max gave a laugh, louder than she had intended it too. He was probably right. "Potentially. I mean I guess the end is inevitable right?"

Max looked down, reaching in to her jacket pocket to pull out her phone. She had been waiting all day for a reply from Chloe but had received nothing. Her stomach was in knots over it as her mind went to every possible conclusion. Chloe can't have left her again. She refused to believe it. Or that for some reason Chloe was mad at her. She hadn't replied since Max had told her she couldn't hang out today. Was she jealous of her spending time with Warren? Or even just angry that she wasn't hanging out with her?

To ease her anxiety she settled on the only reality she could accept. Chloe was busy. Max wasn't her only friend, so the only possible conclusion Max was ready to accept was that.

That and it was the most logical.

Warren shrugged, flicking between television channels. "If you want to get technical than sure. The world will one day end, let's just hope that it's not sooner rather than later. I'd really enjoy living out my life. Especially if I get to hang out with you, nerd."

Max took a deep breath as Warren settled on a horror movie on T.V. "Well, right now I'd rather not be gone either, 'if we're getting technical'" she jested, a small smirk tugging the corner of her lips. "Hey, super nerd. I have a question for you." The playfulness from her tone dissipated as she turned to face him.

"Shoot." Warren stuffed a handful of chips in his mouth awkwardly, a few falling on to his lap and he tried to quickly brush them away hoping Max had not seen.

"Time travel. For or against?" she turned to face him, trying to study his face and realising it was relatively expressionless.

"Way to throw me a hard question." He chuckled. "I wouldn't expect any less from you. Well, it definitely would have its merits. I mean, given the opportunity anyone would go back in time and stop any of the terrible things that happened in the past. Take the Holocaust for example, sure I would go back and attempt to stop that from happening, do you know how many millions of lives would be saved?" he paused, thinking hard for a moment. "Morally would it be right though? No, definitely not. Well… I don't think so at least."

"Why?" the brunette questioned quizzically.

"As much as I would love to save the world, Super-Max, the implications for changing such things would be too great. Consider the grandfather paradox- while the name suggests it just covers the aspect of someone changing the past just slightly enough to the point where someone's grandparents never met thus meaning that in the future they technically haven't been born, it actually covers a wide range of theories in this regard."

"So… if someone did go back, even the most minor of changes would have serious repercussions on the current or future time lines?" Max looked down.

Warren gave a nod. "Yeah, as cliché as it would, let's say I did go back in time and stop Hitler, the fact that I did that would change the world as we know it today- maybe not for the best. So many inventions were invented in that time. While all those lives potentially would have been saved, without that moment in history too much would be affected. And if I did manage to stop him, who is to say that someone wouldn't have succeeded him, someone much worse?" he tapped his chin. "And at what point do I stop him? When he's a child and hadn't done anything monstrous yet? When he started the Reich? Regardless, I don't think I could murder anyone… let alone a child. I guess I could always attempt to go back and be nice to him as a child?"

There was a brief silence that fell over the room as Max contemplated his words.

"No one has ever built a time machine so it's sort of hard to say but there is a valid argument that goes like this; suppose you did have a time machine and you could travel back to an earlier time. As I said earlier, your actions in that time might prevent your grandparents or even your great grandparents or whatever being born or ever having met each other. Or potentially they did, just under different circumstances meaning they didn't end up getting together. This would mean that you were never born, thus you never would have created, or stepped in to the time machine. So the claim that there would be a time machine is self-contradictory. Or, if you did go back in time, you could simply change something that would maybe mean a certain piece of technology wasn't invented, or that you did something different in life, meaning that the time machine wasn't invented by you and you would be trapped in the past."

Max sighed audibly, beginning to understand the implications that her actions have had on the time line. Fully understanding for the first time why the storm would have happened due to her changes in time. It was a lot to take in, and the information sat with her, making her feel increasingly guilty with each passing second.

Warren looked over to his friend, giving her another nudge when he noticed her contorted face. "However, there is another theory that we could go back in time, change something and then come back and that our reality would simply revert to its original state as the time rippled created by the changes in a way sort of even out. I guess that sort of means our reality would be artificially created because it could not be changed." He laughed. "I guess that's sort of scary in a way to think about. It would mean that no matter what we did, we couldn't change our future. We were on a predetermined past, whether it be to fail or succeed."

Max closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. What about if there was no time machine? What if a person just happened to have some kind of powers?"

"Like a super hero?" Warren smiled kindly.

"I wouldn't exactly call them a super hero..." she shook her head. She would never consider herself that. This was a curse if anything.

"Honestly, I don't know. If there was no question of technology being an issue then I suppose the only repercussions would be the changes they made to people's lives. They wouldn't have to worry about their technology disappearing on them and being stuck. With that being said, I guess they would have to worry about their powers stopping working or I guess the fact that they had super powers." He laughed, placing his feet up on his coffee table. "A modern day super hero. The world would eat that shit up."

Max rubbed the bridge of her nose, a headache rushing over her. Not too much could have been changed, right? Everyone seemed the same. Everything seemed the same. Other than Chloe being back. When she rewound back to before she changed anything, she theoretically fixed all the mistakes she had made.

"Max, why do you ask?" he blinked slowly, sounding genuinely concerned.

Max forced a laugh. "No reason. I'm just curious about time travel. It would be a… cool super power. You could immediately fix any mistake you made! I could rewind this conversation and pretend it never happened. It would save me ten minutes of my life…" she attempted to joke, making Warren feel more at ease.

Max pulled out her phone, mindlessly playing with it momentarily to fill the silence. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing quicken. She needed to get her mind off it before she had some kind of panic attack. "Hey, have you got any new video games? Let's play some."

"Oh yeah! I got this really cool one the other day. Two player too." Warren began, getting up to turn on his console as he continued gushing about his new games.

Max was half listening as she opened her messages. She wanted to stop but couldn't, she needed to message Chloe. She wouldn't feel right until she did, until she got a response.

 ** _"I'm hanging out with Warren right now. :(_**

 ** _But if it's not too late do you want to hang out afterwards?"_**

Warren had handed Max the controller and they both started shit talking as they began playing. Warren, having more practice at his own game was slightly better than her, but the more she played the better she got. It wasn't long until she was beating Warren and his frustration was showing. However, as competitive as it was getting they were still enjoying each other's company.

Between deaths she kept checking her phone, there was still no response. She began to worry but she couldn't let it show. She decided to send another.

 ** _"Chloe._**

 ** _Come on._**

 ** _I want to hang out later tonight. So let me know, okay."_**

She felt herself becoming angry. She didn't mean for it to consume her, but she could feel it rising in her chest. She put her phone face down on the coffee table and picked up the controller, ready to crush Warren. She didn't know why she was letting it affect her so much, but there was no point in letting it ruin her night. Pushing it in to the back of her mind she focused on the game and Warren.

"Hey techno-nerd, who are you texting? Your boyfriend?" he half joked, half asked seriously wanting to know the answer himself as he continued to stare intently at the screen.

Max blushed, mashing buttons aimlessly. "No…"

Warren gave a slight frown before hiding the expression from his face. "That was convincing."

"No, I mean like, I'm not texting anyone, Warren. Not like that anyway" she replied, trying to brush it off. This wasn't a conversation she wanted to be having with him.

He was in fact the last person she wanted to be talking about her feelings with.

"If you say so, Max…" he paused. "So, who're you crushing on hard then, Max?"

She mentally cursed him for not dropping the subject. "Uh, no one really. I mean, there is someone but they're more of a friend than anything else. I don't think it would be anything more." She paused much like Warren had, realising her own words and she didn't like them.

Warren smirked. "Oh. Are they handsome?"

"I wouldn't say handsome…" she threw the controller down in frustration at her death. "They're really beautiful and, I don't know, cool I guess. Like, they don't even have to try."

Warren smiled a content smile, turning his attention towards Max.

* * *

When Warren and Max finally finished hanging out it was quite late and she had definitely missed curfew. However, despite everything, she had actually had fun hanging out with him and it took her mind off her lack of conversing with Chloe and Victoria, as well as the time tripping issues. Well, other than the extremely awkward goodbye. Warren had lingered like he was waiting for something, even insisting on walking Max back to her dorm. It took a lot to convince him that she didn't need him to and he finally settled on her texting him when she was home safe.

She did her best to briskly walk to the girl's dorms, making sure to hide in the shadows in case security was roaming. She never saw anyone but she convinced herself it was because she was being super stealthy.

The darkness didn't scare her, she had had enough darkness in her life that was far more terrifying than night.

With the entrance to the dorm in site she finally saw the first signs of life. A tall, slender and dark figure was leaning against the wall, their arms folded and in the darkness Max could see the glow of a lit cigarette in their mouth. She approached cautiously, unsure of whether or not this person would be friend or foe.

It was only when she got closer that she saw the shine of the tell-tale blue hair bathed in the moon light.

Chloe looked up as she approached, her face expressionless. She took one last inhale of smoke from her cigarette before shifting it in her fingers and flicking the butt away.

Max didn't say anything, she couldn't. The over whelming urge to burst in to tears took her but she wouldn't allow herself to succumb to it. She wouldn't appear weak in front of her. She stopped in front of Chloe and looked up at her for a moment before dropping her head and leaning forward in to her body, tightly wrapping her arms around her torso and resting her head on her chest.

Chloe's body was at first tense before a deep breath was exhaled and she relaxed, pulling Max tighter to her.

The brunette relaxed, feeling her friends nose nudge the side of her head as she buried her face in her hair.

Max wanted to yell at the girl for ignoring her all day, for not even letting her know she was going to come but she couldn't. She had no right to, and even though she wanted to, she couldn't find the words. Chloe's embrace was warm but still Max shivered against her. It was cold out tonight.

Chloe rubbed her back slowly before taking her by the shoulders and pushing her back.

Dejected, Max looked up at her with a pout.

No words were spoken as Chloe turned from her to step in to the door and Max followed.

Max entered her room and closed the door behind her, resting back against it. She watched silently as Chloe took a seat on her bed and began to unlace her boots. No words had been spoken between the two, but they didn't need to be. The silence felt natural. As Chloe began to remove her shoes, it was Max who chose to talk first, no longer being able to hide her confusion.

"How come you didn't text me back today?" her voice wavered, but she had to ask.

Chloe didn't speak, confusing Max further. She instead kicked off her shoes and sat back on Max's bed, resting her back against the wall. Max was frozen to the spot, unsure whether or not she could move, despite it being her own room. The silence was killing her. She felt a fear consume her, one she had only felt a handful of times before.

"Well, I'm here." Chloe finally spoke softly, breaking the silence between them. "I'm pretty beat though, Hippie." Her voice was cold and despondent. "Are you just going to stand there?"

Max furrowed her brows and pushed off from the door, closing the distance between them. She paused in the middle of the room, deciding not to approach the bed, instead she took a seat on the couch. Chloe was acting strange and it scared her. As close as she wanted to get, she couldn't get any closer. Not when it was like this. The room was dark and Max could barely make out Chloe's face. The only light came from the moon shining through the blinds and on to her face.

Max looked down. "Do… do you want to go?" she asked in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper.

She of course didn't want Chloe to go but what else could she do? She didn't seem like she wanted to be here, and she most certainly didn't seem interested in speaking with Max.

"Can we sleep?" Chloe asked, completely ignoring Max's question.

This only made Max angrier.

"You want to stay here?" she asked shortly.

"Yeah, if that's cool with you. You wanted to hang out tonight and stuff. So, yeah. It's pretty late though." She said nonchalantly as if she couldn't care less.

"Well, okay…" Max replied. She wanted to confront her, but confrontation definitely wasn't her strong point. Instead she clenched her fists at her side.

Max took off her own shoes before getting up and walking to her bed. Chloe had already laid down and was facing the wall. With a sigh Max laid down beside her. She turned her face to look at the back of Chloe's head. She wasn't sure what had happened or what was happening.

Max didn't like the silence that had fallen over the two, but at the same time she had no idea what she was meant to say. As far as she was aware nothing had happened to cause such a cold response from her friend. As far as she was aware everything had been fine.

They had had the most amazing day together yesterday, and Max thought that Chloe had felt the same. She realised she should never just assume though. As much as this confrontation had pained her, there was nothing she could do to change it. And at least Chloe was here. Max now knew that she was okay, that was something. At this point, she would take that something over nothing.

Even though she had done nothing wrong and knew that, part of her couldn't help but rack her brain for that one little thing she had done wrong. She went over every conversation in her head. Every word spoken, yet still couldn't find one single thing. Max sat there tearing herself apart. Her self-esteem was already low, and being ignored for something she wasn't sure she did wasn't helping.

The pain in her chest returned and she clenched her fist at her side willing with everything she had for now not to be the time it happened. Her hand was cold, she could feel it as she curled her fingers to her palm, and more cold than it ought to have been. However, she couldn't go back and relive this moment. She didn't need to hear Chloe's cold tone or expressionless face. She didn't know if she could bare it.

Thankfully her body listened just this once.

With a sigh, Max finally turned over, her back to Chloe's just close enough to barely be touching. That slight touch was enough comfort.

Max closed her eyes as she drew her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly, portraying how small she felt in that moment.

"Chloe… I missed you." She whispered quietly, just loud enough so that she knew she was heard.

She was ignored.

Chloe stared at the wall in front of her before closing her eyes.

* * *

 _ **Thanks so much for the reviews guys, especially the people who are constantly letting me know they're enjoying the story. It's very motivating and I hope you sincerely are liking where it's heading.**_

 _ **I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter with Warren in it. And building Victoria in to more of a character and sort of the catalyst for future issues. I wanted to try and capture Chloe's bratty side in this chapter also, though I sort of lost motivation towards the end there... Oops.**_

 _ **As always, let me know what you guys think or if you have any ideas you would like to see put in. Thanks heaps and I'll hopefully have the next chapter up in the next couple of days, granted I actually get a day off from work. I guess my time difference makes it a bit difficult also, considering I'm sure most of the readers will be American. I however do try to update so you will have something to read when you wake up!**_


	9. Fate

Max's eyes slowly fluttered opened, the morning light temporarily piercing her eyes and blinding her momentarily. She whined like a child and rolled over. She was too physically and emotionally tired for this early morning shit.

The brunette had tried to sleep last night only to again be plagued with nightmares. She rubbed at her face, messing up her bangs as she began to succumb to her irrational anger. It had been a few days since she had had them, and the fact they were back bothered her immensely. Not to mention she had been up relatively late and had to deal with an unemotionally distant Chloe.

She reached out her arms, eyes still closed but there was no Chloe there. Opening her eyes, she frowned. Chloe was no longer in her bed.

She wasn't entirely surprised.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, willing the pounding in her head to cease. However, no amount of willing would make it leave. She rolled away from the wall, lying flat on her stomach and draping her arm over the side of the bed to the floor as she looked over her room. Her cheek was buried deep in her pillow but her eyes were quick to settle on the girl sitting on her couch.

She watched silent as Chloe had her head bowed, her blue hair falling over her face and hiding her eyes. She was busy flipping through one of Max's photography journals. Under normal circumstances Max might have been annoyed about the invasion of privacy, but she thought it best not to push Chloe any farther.

As annoyed as she was, she found watching Chloe almost peaceful and serene. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, even in the morning with her hair a mess and clothes dishevelled. Max blinked slowed, watching as Chloe's slender fingers delicately grasped the pages to turn them, or ran her finger tips over the images like they were the most precious things in the world. Max had never seen her be gentler with something and she admired that quality within her.

Max watched Chloe for what felt like an eternity but time didn't at all matter. Eventually Chloe reached the end of the book. She closed it, resting her hand on the cover before putting it down on the coffee table. She turned to look at Max, only realising now she was awake and had been watching her.

She gave her friend a small smile. "Sorry. They're really good." She mumbled, looking down and gesturing to her photographs.

This time it was Max's turn to remain quiet. She was scared that if she were to speak, she wouldn't be able to say anything nice. She would snap, and that definitely was not her. That and she definitely did not need to make the situation worse. She knew how Chloe reacted when given attitude, and that was the last thing she wanted. However, that didn't mean she didn't want to let her have it. Rip in to her for being an insensitive jerk last night. But now was not the time.

Max continued to just stare and Chloe continued to advert her attention to anything but the girl staring at her.

They had reached a stale mate.

Chloe sighed and then the room was again filled with silence.

The blue haired girl folded her arms and leant back in the chair, turning her head to stare at the door, choosing to look at anything other than Max. "Did you have fun last night? With Warren?" the name was foreign on her lips. She hated the sound of it and the way it lingered in the air.

Max lazily blinked before closing her eyes. This was the last thing she wanted to deal with. She wished Chloe would have just forgotten it, or let it go and actually been her friend this morning. The Chloe that she knew and loved.

"That good, huh?" Chloe asked, but it definitely was not a question, more an affirmation to herself.

Max opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Chloe rising to her feet.

"Well, I've got to go see a man about a dog." She waved over her shoulder before digging her hands in to her pockets, turning to start for the door.

"Chloe." Max growled, exhaling deeply from her nose.

She moved to a sitting position as Chloe turned to face her, shock written on her face.

Chloe had never heard Max speak her name so harshly before. She half expected it though, but didn't think Max would call her out on her bullshit. She never had before.

Staring at the blue haired girl she eyed her up. She hated the way she was acting right now. As if she was too confident and cocky, trying to over compensate for how she was feeling. Max absolutely hated that. That wasn't Chloe. Sure she could be both cocky and confident, but she never had to fake it.

"Enough." She rubbed her creased brows, her headache worsening from sitting up. "This is ridiculous. Stop being so petty."

"Whatever, Max." Chloe sneered, hating that she was being called out for her emotions but she wouldn't ever admit that.

"No, not whatever. Warren is my friend, just like you." She closed her eyes, kicking herself for making that comparison. Chloe wasn't anything like Warren to her. She knew speaking at all this morning would not be the right choice.

"I hear ya, Max. Loud and clear." She mock saluted and turned back around to leave.

Max could only shake her head as she left. There was nothing she could say. After all, it had been Chloe's choice to leave. Max had too much to deal with, she definitely didn't need this.

Getting up she sat down at her computer, turning it on. While it was starting up, she picked up her phone and opened the message thread from Warren.

 ** _"Mad-Max! I had a really good time last night._**

 ** _Can't wait for Version 2._**

 ** _Do you want to hit the Drive In tonight? They're playing a super cliché hipster movie, so you'd love it._**

 ** _Let me know what you want to do."_**

While she wanted to see a message from Chloe, she knew that that would never happen. Especially considering the girl had just left in a huff. But, she could still hope after all.

Max put her phone down on the desk and apprehensively opened her email. Her heart felt like it had stopped in her chest as she waited for it to load. She didn't know what she was expecting, but she felt disappointed when there were no new emails. Groaning she closed her computer and bent her back over the back of the computer chair, cupping her face in her hands and rubbing it hard.

Today was going to be a long day.

Finally getting up, Max grabbed a change of clothes and a towel and exited her room. Maybe a shower would make her feel better. It's the only thing she could think of that might take the edge off and put her mind at ease. As she closed the door and crossed the hall, Victoria caught her attention.

"Max!" she called waving.

Max forced a smile. "Victoria, how are you feeling today?"

Her cheeks were flushed deep red and before another word could be spoken the blonde wrapped her arms around Max's neck and pulled her in tightly for a hug.

Max didn't think she had been hugged more in her life than she had in the last few days. It's not that the closeness made her uncomfortable, it's just something she hadn't felt in a long time. She was thankful in that moment that Victoria was unable to see her face as her cheeks too began to burn crimson.

"Thank you, Max." she whispered close to her ear, her lips brushing against it.

Max felt a tingle in her stomach at the touch, and as Victoria's breath tickled her ear she gently pulled her closer to her body hoping she hadn't noticed the gesture. She felt far too vulnerable. She had never been this close to Victoria before, and it wasn't a terrible feeling. She hated to admit it, but she found herself enjoying the contact. It was simple and honest and she found herself liking the way she smelt. Odd considering there weren't many things she enjoyed these days, and she never thought she would find herself liking anything of Victoria's.

After how she had been treated by Chloe last night, this was nice.

"What for?" she asked as Victoria finally lessened her grip and began to separate, leaving Max with a peculiar empty feeling.

"Yesterday." She smiled, still standing awfully close to the brunette. She looked down shyly. "I know it wasn't much, but talking really helped. I've felt so off the last few months but yesterday, sitting in photography with you, I finally felt... grounded." She paused as if worried for a second about something. "I'm sorry if that's weird."

Max gave a small laugh and shook her head. "You're definitely not weird. If only you knew… Thanks, Victoria."

Victoria played with the rings on her fingers almost nervously. "You know, if you ever need to talk Max, I'm here to listen too. Just so you know…"

The brunette smiled. "Thank you, Victoria. I can always use a friend."

"I better go." She smiled back, patting Max's arm. "Stop be anytime. I'll see you in photography later."

Victoria turned and went back in to her room, closing the door behind her.

With a smile spread across her lips Max watched her until she could no longer see her and she continued to the bathroom.

Stepping in to the shower cubicle, she turned on the water before she hung her towel and change of clothes on the door and began to undress. First her top and bra, then her pants and underwear. Now completely nude, she raised her arms above her head and stretched, cocking her head to the side until her neck cracked.

Max stuck her hand under the water, testing it first before stepping under it. She let the water drench her hair, before cascading down her face. Tilting her head back, she let the warm liquid flow down her neck and chest and between her breasts.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her blue eyes. There was something about water that had always calmed her. The way it enveloped her body and held her. Relaxed her body and left her to think without judgement.

She wasn't sure where to go from here. On one side she had everything she wanted, what she had craved for so long, to have Chloe back. But on the other hand Chloe was emotionally unstable and she wasn't sure how to deal with that. It scared her. She had never been put in this position before. On top of that, her powers were beginning to fuck up, causing her grief. And she had every reason to be god damn terrified of that. If what Warren has said was true, every time she played with time, some aspect of life fucked up. Maybe not even just for her, but for others. And for her, that was the true nightmare.

She had no idea how to tackle that problem or any idea where to start. Her only lead was the thread she had found, and even that had garnished no information thus far. Her chat with Warren had concerned her though. What if every time her power tripped, something in the time line messed up? She couldn't handle another storm, she wouldn't know how to fix it. And regardless of how she was acting, she would never give up Chloe again. She couldn't. Not when she had fought so hard to get her back. Not when she had given up everything.

This had definitely been a strange week.

"Chloe…" she sighed, opening her eyes as she looked down.

Max didn't know how to fix it, and she was still angry enough to not want to fix it yet. After all, why should she? Chloe was the one who was being a jerk. She clenched her hand in to a fist. She knew the anger was irrational. She didn't have much to be angry about, but she was tired enough not to care. She would need to get that under control before she did anything.

She was tired of being that forgiving girl. The girl people walked all over because they knew they could get away with it. That wasn't her anymore, and she couldn't continue being anyone's door mat. Max had to fight back. She had been through too much to be that girl anymore.

Shaking her head, she looked down at her toes.

Victoria was beginning to remember. How long would it be before she remembered everything? Max couldn't help but wonder what that would mean for her. The blonde would have far too many questions for her to simply brush off. She would have to tell her everything, even about her powers. If that was the case, then how wold Victoria react? While it seemed she had changed, Max couldn't help but still feel like the old Victoria was there somewhere, waiting to make her life hell. If that was in fact true, how would she take the news that Max had powers? That she was some strange freak?

She couldn't bear to think of it anymore. It was all too much. She would deal with it when it came to it, and not before. There was no point in worrying about something that had not in fact happened yet. That potentially could not happen.

Would her remembering mean that Chloe would in fact one day remember their time together? That she had died. That Max had sacrificed her?

She scowled, watching the water drip off her nose to the floor and down the drain. How would Chloe react knowing that Max had willingly given her up for Arcadia Bay? Max knew it wouldn't end well. Despite Chloe insisting at the time that that's what she wanted. If Chloe reacted this bad with her hanging out with Warren, her giving her up, letting her die would probably be the ultimate betrayal.

Taking a deep breath, she shut off the water and reached for her towel. There was really no point in concerning herself with it yet. She needed to deal with the more immediate issues first.

* * *

Towelling off her hair, she walked across the room, still only in her underwear. Looking down at the table, she noticed the portfolio Chloe had been looking through that morning. It wasn't her best work, but it meant a lot that Chloe had liked it. It had been a while since she had taken pictures, or done anything remotely arty really. It had been such a big part of her but she hadn't been motivated to. She hadn't realised it at the time, but Chloe had been her muse. Even when she went away she worked hard so that one day when she came back her best friend would be proud of her. That she would have accomplished something to be proud of. That she could return more than just a naïve girl. And when she lost her, she lost that spark. The drive and the passion had died along with her.

Now that she was back however, she could feel the small fire in her heart. And at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to take pictures. However, mainly of Chloe. She could never admit that to her though, and she currently was far too shy to ask. She couldn't help but think that Chloe would make the perfect subject for some images. While she was a self-confessed 'punk', she was definitely almost hipster as Max. Max knew that if she were to be able to use her as a photography subject, she would portray exactly what she wanted.

Max furrowed her brows, Chloe would probably like the attention. Even if she would pretend not to.

She ran her hand over the cover where Chloe had earlier placed her palm, wishing that she could have just been touching Chloe's hand, holding it in hers. Rubbing at her eyes with her free hand, she stepped away from the book and sat on the edge of her bed. She stared down before burying her face in her hands. It couldn't all fall apart again.

She needed Chloe to forgive her, because she could never forgive herself.

There was a knock on the door, and Max snapped her head up. She didn't even have time to answer before the door opened and the tall blue haired girl stepped in, silently closing it behind her. Chloe leant back against the wood, staring determined back at Max. Max took a deep breath and looked back in to her eyes, getting lost in the deep blue they possessed. She found herself unable to look away as Chloe's eyes wavered with something she had no longer seen before. She wasn't sure if it was fear, uncertainty or any mixture in between, nor was she aware that Chloe was unable to move from the spot she had put herself in.

Chloe's eyes settled on her friend's face, before slowly moving down and noticing she was only half dressed. A faint blush crossed her cheeks, and she willed with everything she had for it to go away before Max noticed.

"I'm sorry, I don't…" The punk looked down. "I mean I didn't mean to burst in… I should go. You're…"

Max shook her head simply. "No Chloe."

Chloe stepped forward away from the door, with Max's words feeling okay with stepping further in to the room, still trying as hard as she could not to gawk at her.

"Max, I'm sorry. About last night and this morning. I was out of line." Chloe began, making gestures with her hands out of nervousness. "You were hella right. I was… I was being really petty."

Max watched, her hands rested at her side on the bed as she watched the girl struggle with her words. She knew that it probably wasn't helping her remaining silent, but Chloe expressing her feelings was a rare thing, so she wanted to see where it was going. What she would come up with on her own accord.

"You were right, and I'm sorry I'm so hard headed that I can't always see when I'm being an ass." Chloe adverted her eyes to the side. "I'm no good at these things. It's always been much easier to run away, you know? When everything leaves you, it makes leaving everything much easier." She paused to exhale out of her nose, almost a disgusted snort. "I need to stop being so jealous and stubborn I guess… I just." She stopped, realising that Max was just staring intently at her. She couldn't really say what she wanted to, could she? "It's just that, I just got you back… And it's selfish, but I just want to spend time with you. Like we used to. Just us two, like us against the world and shit."

Max studied her face, noticing how genuine Chloe was being. She hadn't realised that jealousy had caused this problem, nor that Chloe had anything to be jealous of. She could sympathize with her. Chloe had lost a lot in her life and she had left her for five years, Chloe just didn't want that to happen again. It never would, but obviously Chloe didn't know that. Nor did she know that she had left Max for a year. She understood the loss Chloe had felt.

"It's idealistic. I don't know… I hate it. He was there for you when I wasn't. And that's stupid, I know but it makes me feel so angry. And I…" She looked down. "I missed you, too."

Max rose to her feet and took an apprehensive step towards her friend. "I hate it when you leave." She whispered boldly.

Chloe looked up confused, studying Max's body. From her soft expression to her naked body only covered by minimal clothing. She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to ease her heart. She couldn't see Max that way, it wasn't fair to either of them. She needed to get her feelings under control. She couldn't act on the urges she felt.

"Max…" she said, barely audible as she glanced to the side and away from her friend.

Max closed the distance between the two, and placed her hand to her friend's cheek, sliding her palm across the soft skin to turn Chloe's head back. Her hand began to tingle, first the tips of her fingers then the lengths, followed by her hand and her wrist. Ignoring it, she cocked her head to the side, studying Chloe. She watched as her eyes flickered with life, wavering as if she was fighting something within herself. Max watched as she parted her lips to speak, but no words came from her mouth.

The brunette blinked slowly. With a soft smile, she ran her thumb along the edge of Chloe's jaw, before moving it to her lower lip, gently tracing the tip of her thumb along its length. It was just as soft as she imagined. Her lips always so perfect.

Chloe looked back and met her eyes. "Max…" she began again, losing the strength to speak at her touch.

She ignored her name and leant forward, delicately placing her lips against Chloe's. They lingered there for what felt like an eternity before Chloe began to kiss her back. The blue haired girl reached up and tangled her fingers in Max's hair, pulling her harder against her lips in longing.

Max stepped against her, running both her hands over her cheeks, separating from the kiss to rest her forehead against hers. The tingling was worse now, the pain now sharp and continuous as it travelled further up her arm to her shoulder before spreading across her chest, beginning now to consume her heart.

She looked deeply in to Chloe's eyes, getting lost in their depths. In that moment she wished she could tell Chloe everything. But they needed this silence. In this moment the silence was perfect and she refused to let anything destroy it.

Max's eyes watered, she was ready to break down. She couldn't keep the walls up anymore. She was ready to let her in. Chloe wiped her cheek with her thumb, giving a watery eyed smile back.

"Chloe… I…" Max finally broke, sobbing in front of her friend.

Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around Max's neck, drawing her close to her body. Enveloping her in warmth and comfort, a feeling she desperately needed and craved. She whimpered quietly against Chloe's shoulder as Chloe stroked the back of her brunette hair soothingly.

"Max, I'm sorry. Don't cry. I didn't mean to. I… I'm sorry." She stuttered, almost succumbing to her own emotions.

Max wanted to call her stupid for even apologising, for not knowing, for not realising that all along this was all she had wanted from her. She wanted to be wanted. She longed for it from her.

Chloe buried her face in Max's hair, taking in the intoxicating smell of her shampoo.

Max clung tight to the front of her shirt, not wanting to let go for the fear of losing her. Her heart pounded in her chest now mercilessly now and she shut her eyes tightly, willing it to go and let her have this moment. To finally let her be happy.

But fate had never been kind to her.

As Chloe shifted and pushed her forehead back against Max's, the pain became unbearable and she felt herself become crippled by it. She saw Chloe eyes, her smile and then it happened. Everything became a haze. Her perfect scene turned in to nothing. At first Chloe was there, standing in front of her frozen in time. She still looked perfect.

However, it wasn't long until she too faded in to the rift and was gone.

"No!" Max screamed, fighting with everything she had for the pain to disappear, for this reality to dissipate and give her life back. "This isn't fair!"

Clenching her fists she struggled, the tears that had been building up effortlessly falling from her eyes.

It stopped and she was back in her room. Chloe stood in front of her frozen, hands ready to grab her face. The tears continued to fall as she unfroze, taking Max's face in her hands. Max sobbed, shaking her head.

"Max, I'm sorry I… Please don't cry." Chloe begged quietly. "I didn't mean… Please." She attempted to smudge all the tears from her face, trying to make them cease to exist. Like they had never been there at all.

Max furrowed her brows trying to choke the tears back down. She searched Chloe's eyes, looking for everything that was there before. She was back now and that's all that mattered. They could start where they left off.

"Chloe, listen…"

"Max, you need to understand… you need to know that…" Chloe started, trying desperately to express herself.

"Chloe!" Max insisted, catching the blue haired girl off guard. "You need to listen to me…"

"What is it?" Chloe asked unsure, brushing Max's bangs to the side.

"Something's wrong with me… Please remember. I need you to remember what I'm about to tell you." She pleaded, staring strongly in to the girls eyes as if that was enough to imprint it.

Chloe's eyes flickered, she was feeling more confused than ever. One moment they were kissing, the next Max was crying. "Max, tell me…"

"Chloe, one year ago…" she started before the sharp pain come on suddenly, tearing her back down.

This time, Chloe was the first to disappear, leaving Max all alone. Next the room warped around her, whirling colour making her dizzy. And then nothing, everything went dark and all she knew was blackness.

She whipped around, looking for something, anything to keep her grounded in her reality. Her inner demons begging her, fighting her to go down. And to do so without incident. But she couldn't, she had had a taste of her, and she wanted more. So Max ran. She ran until she felt like she could no more, towards something she couldn't see.

And then she stopped, pleading for this emptiness to cease.

Time jumped, skipping from the void to the present. She was in her room, her towel in her hand ready to dry her hair.

Perspiration dripped from her forehead as she panicked, pacing the room and trying to do exactly what she had done previously. She jumped as she heard the knock on the door. She knew who it was, there was no surprise this time. Max turned sharply and waited for her to enter and she did so just like she had previously. And she looked at her like she had previously.

Max waited. Waited for the sentence she knew was coming.

"I'm sorry, I don't…" Chloe looked down. "I mean I didn't mean to burst in… I should go. You're…"

Max stepped forward until she was mere inches away from Chloe, staring with resolve in to her eyes. It was still there, the flicker, the glimmer of hope. It was still there.

"Chloe, listen to me." She pleaded. "I don't think I have much time." She reached out towards her, needing to feel the touch of her skin.

Chloe shook her head as Max's hand came towards her. "Max, I'm sorry. About last night and this morning. I was out of line." Chloe began, making gestures with her hands out of nervousness. "You were right. I was… I was being really petty."

Max childishly stamped her foot and turned away, pacing the length of the room. She ran her hands through her hair, pulling at it as she felt the insanity grip her. "Stop, this isn't fair." She said sternly to no one.

If someone was fucking with her, this was the cruellest joke.

Chloe watched on confused, watching her friend walk back and forth as if trying to figure something out that she couldn't comprehend. It pained her to watch her struggling with something that she herself could not see. To see her friend losing her mind.

"It isn't fair." She cried, hitting her head with the palm of her hand. "Take me back!"

"Max stop." Chloe whispered and for the first time fear clearly evident behind her voice. With hesitation she stepped forward, reaching out for Max's arm to stop her. "Please… Don't hurt yourself. What's wrong?"

"Chloe…" Max looked up, her eyes flickering with a mix of emotion that her friend couldn't make out. There was something not entirely there about her.

As the blue haired girl's fingers curled around her arm, she was thrust back in to the void with an unnatural force that knocked the wind out of her.

Dropping to her knees defeated, she curled her hand in to a fist and hit the ground. Trying to feel anything but the numbness that had consumed her body yet she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything.

And then she was back. Her hand was on the shower knob, ready to turn the water off.

She did so, wrapping herself in her towel and hurrying to her room. She paced back and forth, burning holes in to the carpet with her feet and her eyes glued to the clock. Time ticked by yet Chloe still had not come. She was meant to be here by now.

And time still continued to pass, yet there was still no sign of Chloe.

Then it happened, there was the knock she was waiting for.

As Chloe stepped in, Max lunged forward with quick purposeful steps until she was against Chloe, her hands were in her hair tangled in the blue and she had pulled her lips to hers, passionately kissing her like it was the first time. Like it was the last time.

Chloe at first resisted, taken off guard by the sudden show of emotion before she gave in and melted in to it.

The furiousness of the kiss was quick to dissipate as it became gentle and filled with longing. Max cried silent tears as she placed a few more quick pecks to Chloe's lips before she pulled away.

The cold liquid continued to fall from her eyes as Max knocked her forehead against Chloe's, running her hands over her cheeks and letting the touch linger. She couldn't let her go, she never wanted to let her go. She finally had the touch, the attention she had craved for so long. And it would all be ripped away from her again. Countless times, again and again.

Max looked longingly in to her eyes, smiling between sobs as Chloe looked back at her hurt and confused.

"Chloe, I love you…" she breathlessly murmured. "Don't forget."

When it happened, she wasn't surprised. She had entirely expected it. Again she was alone before being thrust back in to the loop. Again and again, Chloe coming back later and later every time. Max said those three words so many times she thought they would lose meaning, but she had to keep telling her. Hoping that that would be the one time that the loop would cease and they could continue with their existence.

Fate had a different outcome for them, however.

As time continued to keep rewinding, as Max paced the room, eventually Chloe just didn't show up at all as if she had never been there in the first place and Max was left alone.

And it was then that time continued as normal. As if she hadn't relived it many times before.

* * *

 _ **Well, there you go. Chloe growing up a bit only to regress because of time. Not really fair, is it?**_

 _ **I would love to hear what direction you guys think the story should head to from here, or just where you think it is going even. So leave a review, and let me know.**_

 _ **I think for the next chapter, for every review I get I'll write 1000 words. So there is your motivation. Get reviewing!**_

 _ **Tomorrow is my singular day off from work, so I'd love to get something hashed out by then. As always though, Thanks guys. You're great. :3**_


	10. Others Part 2

Max sat on the edge of her bed, frail and broken. Waiting with a small glimmer of hope that Chloe would show up and make everything better, though with each passing minute that small flame was burning out. She hit the side of her face, soft at first and then harder wanting to wake herself up from this dream, but that could never happen.

She couldn't wake up, this wasn't a dream.

She rubbed at her tired face with her hands. Her face was red, her eyes were sore and blood shot, puffy from the tears she had shed. She rubbed at the crease between her brows with her thumb contemplating what her next move would be.

Something inside her had died, she understood that much. She no longer felt like herself. It was different to how she felt before, when Chloe had not been around. This feeling was new, more foreign than the rest. There was a piece missing, and without it she couldn't feel whole. Yet as she thought about it, tried to figure it out, she couldn't quite put her finger on what that piece was. Like she had just simply forgotten, or that piece had never existed in her at all and she had just pretended it was there to hold herself together.

Dropping her shaking hands, she gripped the sheets on the edge of her bed, clenching them tight. It was all she could do to feel grounded. Max felt safe holding on to something. She didn't know when it was going to happen again. When she would be ripped from her life and forced back in to the past. It was silly, but a small part of her thought that by holding on to something would help when that time came. If she was holding on to something, time wouldn't be able to take her away.

But she had to digress. When it had happened, she had been holding on to Chloe. Of all the things that were going to keep her grounded, Chloe would have been the only thing that could have. And even she had not been strong enough to. That wasn't her fault though, she could never have been at fault for that as much as Max wished she could blame anyone but herself. Max wasn't even strong enough to save herself, she couldn't expect anyone else to be.

The brunette needed to move, yet she couldn't will her body to. Time may as well have stood still in that instant because she was just as lost as she was if it had have been. She was scared to move for the fact that she wasn't entirely sure what triggered her episodes. She couldn't risk making the wrong move, or decision. Anything she did altered the time line, that much she was aware of now. How was anyone even supposed to live with themselves knowing that?

She couldn't fight this.

* * *

Max sat there for hours unable to move. Day was soon to turn to night and the only remnants left was the orange hue in the far distance as it finished setting.

She blinked, realising she had been staring for a long time at nothing. As much as she wanted to stay still like this forever so she couldn't fuck anything else up, she knew she couldn't. It wasn't possible. Taking a deep breath, she slowly stretched her legs out in front of her first, only realising now how tense she had been. It took a moment for her muscles to relax allowing her to feel more at ease. Not a feeling she deserved, but she still welcomed it none the less. Rising to her feet, she shook out her right hand, still uncomfortably numb from the morning. She forced herself forward, her feet were heavy and uncooperative, wanting nothing more than for her to go down.

She threw herself in to her computer chair, opening her laptop. When she opened her email, there was still nothing and she allowed herself to release a frustrated sigh. This was the only lead she had, something had to come from it. This had to have the answers she needed, just to get through this.

Maybe she had missed something earlier? There can't just be one other person out there. It just wasn't statistically likely. Placing her fingers to the keyboard she began typing, searching with fervour for something, anything else she could grasp on to.

However, it wasn't long until her attention had turned back to the one person she had found that readily admitted he had these powers. Max reopened the thread, rereading it over and over, taking in every ounce of detail she could before opening her search engine. Determined, she began to furiously type.

She searched everything she found. From something as obvious as their username to specific words that she had never seen used before by anyone. Granted she didn't know anything about them, not even their name, her searching garnished no results. It was as if this person just didn't exist anymore. Or ever existed.

Her phone still sat beside her computer. Hesitantly she reached for it, momentarily allowing her hand to hover over it in limbo. She wasn't entirely sure what would be on there, if anything. As she went to drop her hand her phone began to ring, buzzing loudly against the wood of her desk. Startled, she jumped a little in her seat mentally kicked herself for allowing something as minor to scare her.

She picked it up, her hand was still too numb to feel the cool metal of its back. The number read 'Private', definitely someone she did not know. Her brain told her to ignore it, yet her heart forced her to answer.

"Hello…?" she asked unsure, the question lingering in the air for what felt like too long.

"Max?" the unknown, yet strangely familiar voice asked from the other end.

Briefly Max toyed with the idea of hanging up, she didn't know this voice at all and there would be no reason for a stranger to call her. However, curiosity had gotten the better of her.

"Yes?"

There was another long pause.

"I… just got your email. I didn't think anyone would reply. Let alone that there was someone else out there. Someone like me…" his voice was overly soft and inviting as if over compensating for something.

Max swallowed the lump in her throat. She had a strange feeling but she couldn't exactly pin point what that feeling was. She felt despondent and distrusting, but that could have entirely been the earlier events coming back to haunt her. She couldn't get close to anyone. Either way, this had been her only lead. There was nothing she could do but run with it. Or at least give it a chance.

"Do you…" she paused, unable to articulate exactly what she wanted to say. What was she even meant to call it? "Your powers…"

There was an audible laugh on the other end of the line. "Powers? I don't know if I'd call it that. Time Travel, even that sounds so stupid."

"When did you first get them?" Max asked curiously.

"A bit over a year ago. I was in an accident. I had terrible nightmares. It wasn't on purpose at first, rewinding time. I wasn't sure how it happened, or why. Eventually I figured it out." He stopped as if wanting to ask something, but wasn't sure if he could push it just yet. "Can we meet up? I have questions for you too. Where do you live?"

Max was hesitant but what else did she have? "Arcadia Bay…" she said with some reluctance.

"Great! I don't live too far away from there. I could be there tomorrow." He exclaimed happily. "It would be so good to finally meet someone like me. Someone that understands."

"Um… Okay." She finally agreed. "I'll text you the address?"

"Thank you. I'll send you a message so you have my number." He said in a way that Max knew he had a big smile on his face. "And Max… it's going to be okay."

Max held the phone to her ear for a while after he had gone, unsure that the call had happened or if she had imagined it.

As she dropped the phone in to her lap there was a knock on her door. Again, she jumped, being startled by the noise. She hated herself for being so weak and skittish. Her tired eyes settled on the door, the image of Chloe coming again and again haunting her. She wanted to remain silent, for whoever it was to go away and leave her in peace but there was every chance it could be her finally coming for her. Max didn't know if she could even take it anymore. She couldn't bear another episode of it taking everything away from her.

Moments passed, her indecision getting the best of her but that didn't seem to matter, whoever was at the door didn't go away. There was another knock, before a click as the door handle turned and the small blonde girl silently stepped in to her room.

"Max?" she asked unsure, unable to make out her figure in the dark room.

Max still sat in silence unable to move. Now wasn't the time to bring another human in to her world, she still wasn't sure if she for now had her powers under control and she couldn't allow her resolve on the matter to falter with such a distraction.

Victoria flicked her light switch, illuminating everything with light and burning Max's eyes, taking away her darkness.

Max could only sit there broken, in cased in her shell of trying to pretend she was okay.

"Max…" Victoria murmured as she rushed towards the silent girl, letting her bag fall from her hands. Dropping to her knees in front of her, she placed her hands gently to her thighs as if trying to wake her up from her own nightmare. "Max, snap out of it." She shook her gently, looking up at her worn face.

Max shook her head in return, staring back in to Victoria's eyes almost matching her own. "I've fucked up…" she whispered, finding it increasingly hard to admit to herself. "I'm fucked up."

Victoria stood up, taking a seat on the bed beside her new friend. She allowed her to sit there in silence for as long as she needed, keeping an eye on her. She knew that look anywhere, she had seen it every time she looked in the mirror these days. That same look of utter defeat she found on her face every day.

Much time had passed before the silence was finally broken as Max barely shifted on the spot.

"I can't do this anymore…" She closed her eyes, pulling her trembling hands up to cover them.

Victoria adverted her attention to the ground in understanding. "I don't think I can either." It was an honest and sincere answer.

"Where… where do we go from here?" Max asked unsure, wishing Victoria could give her the answers she had desperately been trying to search for. "Where are the people we used to be?"

"I don't know, Max." she gave a small shrug wishing that she was still as strong as she used to be. But even then she had never used her strength the right way. Only for her own selfish desires. "I thought…" leaning forward she grabbed her bag. Placing it on her lap and tugging on the draw strings to open it, she reached in, pulling out a bottle of clear liquid. Grasping the neck of the bottle, she lifted it up and gave a small faint smile. "I thought we could try and forget together. You seem like you need it."

Max turned to look at her, her eyes studying the bottle in her hands. She had never really drank anything alcoholic before. There were times her parents had allowed her to drink wine during holidays, but other than that she had simply not been interested in it. Nothing about it appealed to her. She had watched as her friends spent their weekends getting thoroughly intoxicated, making fools of themselves and then throwing up everywhere and she didn't want any part of that. She thought she was fine the way she was.

But she didn't entirely believe that anymore. She definitely was not fine.

Reaching out she curled her fingers around the bottle, feeling the cold liquid from inside the bottle sting her hand. The first thing she had felt all night. Unscrewing the cap, she at first hesitantly raised it to her lips. Taking a deep breath she threw her head back and took a gulp. Nothing. Then another, closely followed be a third and swallowed it down.

The taste hit her.

Max pulled a face somewhere between the urge of wanting to bring it back up and trying to act like it didn't bother her at all.

A small unintended laugh fell from Victoria's mouth as she took the bottle back from Max and brought it to her own lips to take a sip. "It's Gin. Not the greatest tasting, but it does the trick."

"Not the greatest tasting? I'm pretty sure that's just kerosene…" Max trailed off quietly, looking down at her hands. She had to admit, that it had already taken some of the edge off.

Victoria smiled, taking another long sip.

"Do you… do you drink often, Victoria?" Max questioned, turning to look at her.

The blonde sighed. "Sometimes. When it's really bad, I guess. It helps. I think I'm really losing my mind, Max." she handed the bottle back to Max. "It gets better. Doesn't taste so bad after a while…"

Max nodded and graciously took the bottle from her, taking another long swig. It still tasted terrible, but she understood the appeal. If it could help her to forget, then she would happily give it a go. At this stage she would happily try anything. Even if it was with Victoria Chase.

"Victoria… how do you do it? Deal with everything you see." Max finally asked with some hesitance.

"I don't." she simply replied. "Don't you get it? I'm going fucking insane." She laughed in a way that under normal circumstances would have terrified someone, but Max understood.

Max nodded in acknowledgement.

"It hasn't gotten any easier. Well, I mean, drinking helps to forget for a while. And… talking with you, being with you, Max…" she allowed herself to trail off, realising the implications of her words.

Max tilted her head back and allowed the harsh liquid to coat her mouth and slide down her throat. It burnt, but she didn't care. Anything that would take her mind of the other pains in her life was very much welcomed. She listened carefully to Victoria's words, allowing them to settle in her mind. She wasn't wrong. It was nice to have someone dealing with the same bullshit as she was, as much as that sucked at the same time.

Pulling the bottle from her lips she handed it back to Victoria, watching her as she did the same, drinking double the amount she had. Her eyes fell on her lips. They had always been pink and glossy, Victoria had always taken so much pride in her appearance. That hadn't changed. Her eyes moved from her mouth to her throat, watching it pulse as Victoria swallowed. Briefly she caught herself fanaticising. Wondering what it would be like to place her lips against the pale skin. To bite so close to her jugular. Such an intimate part that held so much life.

Shaking her hand, she looked down, turning her attention back to her still shaking hands.

"Max?" Victoria asked following Max's eyes. She reached out placing a bony hand over top of Max's.

Max blinked confused, feeling the warmth from Victoria's hand take over the coldness. Almost completely eradicating it from her extremity. She watched as the blonde ran her fingers back and forth over her skin with a gentleness she had never known. That she had always wanted but had never received.

Closing her eyes tight, she allowed herself to feel the warmth. She allowed herself, albeit guiltily, to enjoy someone else's touch. Her face remained stoic as she felt her fingers trace their way up to her wrist lingering their briefly before moving further up her arm as if working on taking the numbness away, trying to save her from her fucked up reality.

"Max…" Victoria breathed through her barely parted lips as if her name meant everything.

Max opened her blue eyes, turning her head to look at Victoria. Her eyes searched her face for something. This almost felt too unreal, and briefly Max was unsure whether or not it was happening. But it had to be, she could feel her touch.

The brunette's heart began to pound in her chest and she felt the palpitations run through her whole body.

Removing her hand from Max's arm, Victoria brought it up to cup her cheek, running her thumb over her pale, soft skin. She stroked it as if Max was the most delicate thing in the world, as if she was responsible for keeping her safe and unbroken.

Max stared unblinkingly in to Victoria's eyes. She could see the same fear and uncertainty that she knew was behind hers. She was helpless, lost in her touch she found herself unable to move. Unable to think. And though she never wanted to admit it, she found herself clinging to the touch, to the contact. For someone to be taking charge, to be taking care of her for once was nice. She didn't have to think for herself, make moves for herself or worry about herself. There was someone right here doing it for it.

Then the contact betrayed her, she could feel the coldness gripping her arm again.

Victoria looked back at her, a small smirk tugging one corner of her lips. She leant closer, stopping impossibly close to Max's lips.

Max continued to watch, feeling Victoria's breath against her skin. Tilting her head to the side slightly she still continued to watch. Waiting for Victoria to make her move. She couldn't stop it even if she wanted to.

Max furrowed her brows before she completely froze as Victoria lingered, studying Max like Max was doing to her.

Victoria closed the miniscule distance between them, as impossibly close as the space had been earlier, it was nothing compared to the impossibly distant contact of their lips. Her touch was so absurdly gentle and soft, it was almost as if it wasn't there at all.

She could feel it more now, as Max closed her eyes she could feel her arm go numb and she knew she was running out of time. She craved the closeness though, and wouldn't pull away nor would she destroy it with words. It was wrong, Max knew that, but everything had been wrong for so long that she found the devil on her shoulder convincing her to go with it.

The room began to spin as the pain was at its worst. Clenching her eyes shut tight she felt Victoria's hand move from her cheek and fall to her wrist. Her touch was delicate at first before it became rough. The blonde curled her long fingers easily around Max's wrist.

The scene was lost now, flickering between black and colours but still Max did not move. Victoria, still able to move took the brunettes lower lip between her teeth and tugged it seductively before tightening her grip on her wrist and snapping her back to reality.

She was grounded now, the numbness escaping her body and for the first time she didn't feel like she was out of time.

Max clumsily pushed her lips harder against Victoria's, wanting more. At first she trailed her tongue along her lower lip begging her to open up her mouth. Her mouth tasted of alcohol, but Max ignored it for the taste of her lip gloss.

Victoria dug her nails in to Max's skin, right in to her veins and holding her in place, meeting Max's kiss with her own enthusiasm selfishly.

In that instant Max knew she would have sold her soul for Victoria's ability to pull her back from the brink. That's exactly what Victoria had done. Her powers had been about to consume her, she felt it. The familiar pain and then as fast as it had begun it stopped. She had never been more thankful.

She couldn't shake the invincible feeling rising in her gut.

Max tangled her fingers in the back of Victoria's short hair, pulling her lips roughly against hers, keeping her as close to her as possible. She couldn't let the contact fade, not when she hadn't felt this under control in years.

Victoria had her on her knees, wanting to continue holding on to this new feeling of normalcy. And when Victoria went to move her hand from Max's wrist to touch her, Max felt herself grasp her hand and pull it back, placing it back on her arm. That is where she felt safest. For now that was where it needed to stay.

Victoria separated, breathing heavily and looking to the side. She hadn't meant for this to happen when she came and saw Max tonight. Nor did she ever see herself kissing another girl. She found herself wanting more than she had had and as willing as her body was she wasn't sure if she could force her mind to commit to it.

Max made the decision for her, at first running the back of her fingers down the length of her neck, causing Victoria to tilt her head back. She leant in close, taking in Victoria's enticing scent before gracefully placing tactful kisses down it. She bit down and nibbled the skin gently, earning a small moan from her companion. She paused, the sound trapped in her ears.

"Max, please…" Victoria begged weakly. "Don't stop."

Nudging her nose against Victoria's jaw, Max gripped the front of her blouse, jerking her body against hers where Max again caught her lips.

* * *

 ** _Them Chasefield feels though...?_**

 ** _Thank you guys so much for the reviews- I really didn't expect to receive so many in such a short amount of time. It's great to hear what you guys are thinking about the story thus far, more so that you're all enjoying it, despite the feelings._**

 ** _There will be another chapter up later tonight. I have some things to do today, and wasn't completely satisfied with what was supposed to be the rest of the chapter yet, so that will be up later._**

 ** _HOWEVER,_**

 ** _Would you like to see more Chasefield at the start of the next chapter, or would the betrayal towards Chloe be too much? Your reviews on this matter will directly write the start of the chapter tonight so keep them coming!_**


	11. Demons

_**Let's just take a moment to pretend that in an ideal world Max would have a bathroom off her dorm room. C;**_

* * *

There was tension as Max paused, loosening her grip on blonde girl in front of her. Opening her eyes, she realised just exactly what she was doing and it no longer felt right. She allowed her trembling hand to fall as she stood from her sitting position and backed away from Victoria shaking her head profusely.

She couldn't believe she had let her emotions get the better of her. That she had allowed such a thing to happen in the first place, all for the small ounce of comfort that it provided. All for her selfish need to feel okay, no matter what the cost. That wasn't who she was. While she longer wanted to be the selfless naïve girl who got shat on by everyone, she never wanted to be the person who hurt anyone else. Who betrayed her friends. Especially Chloe of all people.

"Victoria, I…" Max whispered trembling before burying her face in her hands. "I'm sorry."

Victoria furrowed her brows, watching the hapless girl in front of her.

"I'm so sorry…" Max began to mutter over and over, for the first time wanting to actually use her powers to erase the memory. However, while Victoria would forget, Max never could. And there seemed there was no guarantee that it would remain forgotten.

Looking down and away, anything but looking at Max, Victoria picked up the bottle of Gin at her feet and took a long swig. She knew exactly what was happening.

Max pulled at her hair, beginning to pace like she had earlier. Trying to internalize the situation, figure out where it had all gone wrong. She couldn't do this to Chloe. Just the mere thought of it destroyed Max, she couldn't even begin to fathom what it would do to Chloe. Considering the emotional turmoil her just hanging out with Warren had created. They weren't together, nor did she understand Chloe's feelings towards her but she couldn't help but feel like this was the ultimate betrayal.

"Fuck." Max said angrily, feeling blue eyes watching her.

"Max, enough. I get it." Victoria said sternly. Her voice strong and wilful.

The brunette looked up, Victoria's voice knocking her out of her own thoughts. "Victoria, I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry." Her eyes began to well with tears, unable to think of any words to fix the situation.

Victoria waved her hand dismissively, her face unreadable as she drank more still. "There's someone else?"

Max nodded and slid her back down against the far wall until she was on the floor. Sliding her hands through the top of her hair, she bowed her head. "Yeah…"

"That blue haired girl?" Victoria asked. "Chloe Price, that girl that was friends with Rachel Amber?"

There was a long silence before Max looked up and again nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh." Was all she managed to say in response.

"Victoria, please… I didn't mean for this to happen. I... I really like you. I think we could be great friends. But Chloe, she…."Max trailed off, unsure of what she could say about her friend to this girl she had just rejected.

"Seriously Max, I get it. I didn't plan on this either. I just like hanging out with you. It's cool. I think I've just envied you for so long that, you know." Victoria gave a small reassuring laugh. "I've seen the way you look at her. At Chloe…. Does she know?"

Max shook her head, hugging her knees to her chest. "No… she doesn't. I don't know if…" She had tried to tell her, but time would allow her that pleasure. She was getting nowhere with it. She wasn't sure if she would ever get the chance to.

"I've also seen the way she looks at you…" Victoria added. "You should tell her."

Max sighed, beginning to feel frustrated. "I've tried… Victoria, I've fucked up. I've fucked up so much."

"Don't let that stop you, Max. If you do, you'll be running from everything forever. I know you're not the kind of person who runs away from their problems. People make mistakes, it's how you learn from those mistakes that defines you. So what are you going to do?" the blonde arched her eyebrow.

"I…" Max looked down. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Victoria was right. "I'm not going to run from it anymore."

"That a girl, Max. I think I should go now." Victoria smiled, stretching her arms above her head. "I'll leave the rest to you. Liquid courage." She motioned to the bottle. "Let me know how it goes with Chloe." She rose to her feet starting for the door. "And Max, don't beat yourself up. I'm sorry too. It all… it all just got ahead of me. It was nice though, for not meaning anything" With that she left.

Max was alone again, yet she was content with that. Knowing that she couldn't hurt anyone being alone.

Throwing herself on her bed, she buried her face in her pillow, finally began to feel nauseous. She groaned, rolling on to her back and staring at the ceiling. Victoria was right. She couldn't run from her feelings anymore. So many pieces would fall in to place once she just got them off her chest.

One thing was certain, she would have to tell Chloe about what happened tonight.

Her phone began to ring and she lifted herself from her bed to grab it. Flicking it over, she froze. It was Chloe. She thought for a second, deciding whether or not she should open it. The mere thought of what had just happened almost reducing her to tears. Regardless of the fear she felt, she needed to hear Chloe's voice. The one thing that would make it all okay.

"Hey…" Max said barely above a whisper rather hesitantly.

"Max, I'm so sorry." Chloe's tone was soft and genuine.

"It's okay, Chloe." Max paused, biting her lip to stifle the sob she was desperate to keep in. It was nice to hear Chloe's voice, but she wasn't ready for this. "I'm about to go to sleep, so goodnight…."

"Don't brush me off, Mighty Max." Chloe pleaded. "Can I come see you?"

Max froze, unable to speak. As much as she would have loved for Chloe to come around, she knew that should would break down the second she saw her. Max thought about not replying, just hanging up. She curled up on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. She wanted to see her, she never wanted to be away from Chloe but what could she say?

"I need to talk to you." Her tone was desperate.

Max's heart stopped.

It made Max nervous to see Chloe. It made her want things that she now shouldn't want, at least not right now. She was glad her friend was okay and that she didn't seem to be so mad anymore but at the same time the hurt she felt was unimaginable. She couldn't even begin to think about the hurt she was going to inflict on Chloe.

"Max… can we please talk?" Chloe said, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. "Like, seriously."

Max closed the door behind her, knowing nothing good comes from that sentence. "What's up, Chlo?"

Chloe looked down, searching for the words to explain how she felt but was finding it increasingly hard to. How do you even ask someone about something so strange without them thinking you were crazy? Fidgeting with her hands, she finally spoke. "Max… I've had this weird feeling lately. No, not just a feeling, dreams too. And weird little déjà vu moments. I wish I could put them down to being dreams but they just feel so weird. I remember things, or little parts of things that never happened. That I can't recall happening at least. You're always there. I just…"

Max took a deep breath before taking a seat next to her friend. _'Calm down…'_ she told herself. _'Chloe's your best friend.'_

"Max, what's going on? Ever since I saw you at Blackwell, I had this strange feeling. It had been such a long time since I had seen you but there was this feeling in the back of my head like we only just saw each other. We just picked up right where we left off, like we were never even apart." She paused as she looked down. It had always been hard for Chloe to express herself and this time was no exception.

"Chloe… I." she began but Chloe interjected.

"I need you to tell me, Max. I need to know. I need to make all the pieces fit. My head right now is hella messed up." She shook her head wishing Max would just understand her need to know.

Max looked down, she didn't want them to, she wanted to be stronger than that but tears began to well in her eyes. "I don't know what to tell you, Chloe… You'd think I was crazy if I told you the truth. Things like that just don't happen. I don't think I'm ready yet… What if I lost you again?"

Chloe could see that her friend was visibly upset, so she took her hand and rested it on top of hers. She wasn't one for massive shows of affection, but she knew that her friend needed this. "I'm not going anywhere, Max."

Max looked down at Chloe's hand on top of hers and felt her heart begin to race at the contact. She didn't deserve this kindness, not after betraying her. "Chloe… I need to tell you something. I promise I'll tell you. I'm so tired and exhausted." She stopped, rubbing at her eyes with her free hand. "I… I need time. I know you won't understand that, but please try. I need to figure out how."

Reluctantly Chloe nodded. She didn't understand, but she knew it was what her friend needed. And for that reason she would need to be patient, despite her finding it unfair.

"Chloe… I." Max said when she noticed her hesitation.

Chloe held up her hand to stop Max. "So, are we going to hang out tomorrow? 'Cause I was sort of hoping we could do something… special. I dunno… if you wanted to. Just the two of us."

Max gave a small smile. "I would love that. Chloe… I have to tell you something." she began, unsure of where to start or finish. She needed to stop running. "Tomorrow I am going to meet with someone. I don't know them… They don't know me either I guess." She studied Chloe's confused expression. "I have to talk to them about something."

"Why can't you talk to me about it…?" Chloe questioned, tilting her head to the side feeling a little disheartened that her friend couldn't turn to her.

"It's not that I don't want to Chloe, I just… I can't." Max frowned, hating the words as they came from her mouth. "I will be able to Chloe, but this is something I need to do first. I need to figure it out for myself. And then tomorrow… tomorrow night, before we hang out will you come here so we can talk properly? So I can tell you everything. I need to tell you everything. Even if it means losing you for a while…" she trailed off realising that this could be the one thing that destroyed them.

"You're being really weird." The blue haired girl shook her head, finding it hard to follow her friends words.

"I'm sorry, Chloe… I'm so sorry." Max sobbed, finally succumbing to her emotions. "Please don't hate me."

Chloe was uncertain at first, not being entirely used to such outbursts but was quick to pull Max in to her arms. "I could never hate you, Max Caulfield. Don't you get it? You own a part of me." Stroking the back of her hair, she rested her chin on the top of her head. "That isn't going away. It never has. Whatever this is, whatever has got you so upset, we'll figure it out tomorrow once you've had your time to think. We'll figure it out together. You hear me? Together. After today, there is no more doing it on your own, there is no more being alone."

* * *

Max waited at the diner, clutching her phone tightly in her hand as if it was her only lifeline. The sun was beginning to disappear, leaving a cold, empty feeling in the room from the artificial lighting. This stranger had wanted to meet somewhere else, somewhere where they could be alone to talk, but Chloe had insisted that if she was going to meet this person that she didn't know by herself, then it needed to be in a public setting. Chloe was the one that had suggested the diner, knowing her mother would at least be there to look out for Max if needed. It took a lot for Max to convince Chloe that she didn't need to come, that she could protect herself, but eventually she had given in. However, if there was any sign of trouble, or if Max felt at all uncomfortable she was to text Chloe and she would be there in an instant.

Max had agreed, even though at the same time she didn't want to upset this person. She needed them to show up.

She had never felt so shady, glancing around often, searching for that one person she didn't recognise or who was out of place. Her only saving grace was that Joyce was working, so occasionally they would give each other a knowing head nod, allowing her to fit in with all the other patrons.

There was a chime as the door of the diner opened, snapping Max out of her trance. She felt his presence before she saw him. It was foreboding and a sense of dread washed over Max, though she couldn't yet determine why.

By the way his presence felt, she didn't expect his appearance to be the polar opposite. Even she could admit he was handsome.

He instantly recognised her, though she was sure she had never met him before in her life. He gave a sly smile, walking towards her table before confidently taking a seat opposite her. Running a hand through his dark brown hair he allowed a small snort to escape his lips before his bright green eyes settled on Max.

She felt small in his presence, somehow his mere gaze making her feel more insignificant than she ever had. She shifted nervously in her seat, adverting her eyes to the table. Nothing had been said but she already began to regret this meeting.

"Max, my name is Cole." He spoke slyly, as if the name was meant to mean something to her.

As he began to speak she next regretted not allowing Chloe to come with her.

"So…" he began, his tone deep and questioning. "Max, let's not waste time with any more formalities. You can time travel?"

Max gave a small shy nod as she placed her phone down on the table.

"Can you choose when to use them? Have you used them to change anything before?" the man pushed his black framed glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Forgive my eagerness Max, I just have a lot of questions. It's not every day you meet someone with such extraordinary abilities."

"I…" she thought hard. Her gut told her not to trust this person, but what other choice did she have? She had to let go of all her inhibitions and learn to be more trusting. Not everyone was out to get her. "I can choose when to use them. And I have used them to change things that have happened. Not always for the best, but I have genuinely only tried to use it for good."

Cole gave a discontented laugh as if her answer had offended him. "And what do you deem to be good? Is it by your standards or societies?"

Max furrowed her brows as she looked back up at him. "Mine or societies? No one's views on good or evil are completely correct." Shaking her head she clenched her fists at her sides. "Everyone has different ideals. So my standard of good may not be the same as another's, or yours. What matters is that I tried to do the right thing."

The brunette man folded his arms across his chest and looked down. "I suppose you're right, Max. Everyone's standards are different. You can only merely do what you perceive as right. It's good that you've tried to do the right thing, especially when it's so easy to do the opposite." He cocked his head to the side slightly. "I must admit, I hadn't always done the right thing but like you I attempt to do what is right. Do you believe in karma, Max?"

With a quizzical expression she opened her mouth to speak but froze. What kind of question was that? There was a wrenching in her gut. "No… Well, I suppose. I believe that sometimes bad things will happen to bad people, but at the same time bad things also happen to good people. I'm not entirely sure the ratio of those things occurring or if there is any sort of mathematical equation or scientific answer for it but I like to think that that eventually bad people will get what's coming to them." She finished, realising he still was not looking at her. It made her feel almost as uncomfortable as if he had been staring.

"I used to think I was a good person, Max. I still like to think I am. But ever since I was cursed with the ability to time travel, it doesn't seem like anything good has happened to me. Only bad…" he trailed off with a mumble as if not wanting to finish his sentence.

"I know what you mean…" she said hesitantly. "Nothing has gone my way for a while."

"You don't rewind to change it?" he asked, waving his hand in front of his face. "To make the outcome more in your favour?"

"I have…" Max looked down, remember the countless times she had saved Chloe. "I have before. To get my own way. It was selfish. I thought I could save everyone… but I haven't for a long time."

"You thought you could save everyone?" he mused meanly as if he knew more than Max did. "I don't think that's possible." He added to change the subject. "Did you… Did you rewind when you caught out Mark Jefferson?"

Max froze upon hearing the name. One she had ignored for so long in an attempt to pretend that she was truly fine. How did he know about it? She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

"Sorry Max, I did some research on you before I came here. From your email it was easy to figure out who you were. I didn't want to come here not knowing what I was getting myself in to. I'm sure you understand." Cole leant forward on the table, resting his body on his elbows. "You can never be too careful, especially with a power as unique as yours."

Max inwardly cringed at his words, never wanting to get out of a situation more. She thought about rewinding to before he arrived so she could leave but she knew she couldn't. She couldn't risk messing up the timeline any more than she had already. Surely she could get out of this situation by herself.

She reached out her hand slowly towards her phone on the table.

Max jumped, feeling Cole's large, rough hands curl around her wrist.

"Max, don't think about rewinding." He grinned a toothy grin, making Max's skin crawl. "I know what you've done, and I know what you're capable of."

"Let go." Max requested her voice, shaky.

"Now Max, I'm going to let go of your wrist but I want you to sit there and be good. Can you do that?" he asked under his breath

"Let. Go." Max requested again, this time more loudly and stern.

Some of the patrons glanced over towards the commotion at their table and Cole was quick to release her wrist from his grasp.

"I don't want this kind of attention, Max." he growled.

She quickly grabbed her phone and pulled it towards her chest, holding it tight. Wishing Chloe would call her so she could get out of this situation.

"What… What do you want from me?" Max finally asked, clearly shaken.

"I'm going to be frank with you Max, you and I have someone in common. And I've been following you from afar for a while now." He smirked combing his bangs from his eyes. "You took something from me, Max. I want the chance to get it back. You're going to help me do that, no matter what cost." His smirk turned in to a laugh. "God, when I put that thread up I never thought you would stumble across it. I mean, obviously I had hoped but never in a million years did I think you would reply to me. You took something from me, and I want it back."

Max shook her head furiously. "I can't do anything for you. I'm sorry."

He hit his fist on the table and growled. "You don't have a choice, Max. You will help me, no matter what cost."

At that moment Joyce stepped up to the table, her note pad in her hand and concern in her eyes. "Is everything okay here?" she asked, specifically looking to Max.

Cole kept his eyes on Max, however Max looked to Joyce, wishing for her to remove her from the situation. She couldn't specifically say it. She needed her to understand. She silently pleaded and Joyce turned her attention to Cole.

"Can I get you anything?" she lifted her pad, ready to write.

"No." Cole shook his head, not even bothering to give her his attention. "Max?"

"Max hunny." Joyce began, noticing the tense situation. "I've a message written for you out back. Would you mind popping back out there with me to grab it? I don't have time to come right back." She turned to look at Cole. "I'll only borrow her for a moment."

Max nodded, clearly still in shock and slid out of the booth, grabbing her phone as she did so. She bowed her head as she followed Joyce, only looking over her shoulder as she stepped in to the kitchen to see Cole staring hard at her. When the door finally closed she wrapped her arms tightly around Joyce, thanking her.

Joyce hugged her back, gently rubbing her back in that way only mothers know how to do. "It looked a little tense back there, are you okay? You haven't got yourself in to any trouble have you?"

"I can't go back out there." Max shook her head against Joyce's bosom. "Please Joyce, I can't."

"Say no more, Max." she smiled reassuringly. "You can go outback. Do you have any way to get home?"

"Chloe… Chloe said she would come get me if I needed a ride. I'll call her." She replied, lifting her phone to search through her contacts.

"Ah, that precious daughter of mine. Would you tell her that I'd like to see her home at some point." She laughed to herself knowing Chloe would never change. "You be safe now, and don't let Chloe get you in to any trouble."

"Thank you, Joyce." Max whispered quietly, looking up in to her eyes.

Joyce ruffled her hair. "Go on now, before you get me in trouble for being out here."

She pushed through the kitchen door and stepped out in to the fresh night air. Taking a deep breath she allowed the cold to fill her lungs, taking some of the edge off. She still wasn't completely sure what had happened or who this person was but she knew he wasn't good. She should have never trusted him.

She began walking from the alleyway, dialling Chloe as she briskly walked the pavement. She had to get out of here and out of sight before he realised that she wasn't coming back. The last thing she needed was for him to follow her home. He clearly would do anything to use her.

She raised the phone to her ear, never feeling more nervous than in that moment. She glanced over her shoulder often, hoping never to see his face again. She waited, listening to the phone ringing but there was no answer. Where was Chloe? Frustrated she stuffed her phone back in to her pocket and began walking as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself.

* * *

When she finally arrived back at the campus, it was late. The lamps placed around were glowing and bugs were beginning to circle their light. Very few students were still around, however one caught her attention.

"Hey, Max." Warren said with a small troubled smile. "Are you okay?"

Max was visibly upset and it took all she had to give a frail nod back to the boy. Before she knew it, he had his arms enveloped around her and he was embracing her tightly, whispering soothing things in her ear. She didn't ask for this, she didn't ask for any of this. She needed Chloe. She had to tell her everything. She couldn't help but begin to feel she was actually going insane, with everything that was happening. Every day she was beginning to think more and more that she was. She wasn't ready to lose everything again.

Warren stroked the back of the brunette's hair, drawing her closer to his chest. Max rested her hand on his chest and began to sob in to his shirt. She was terrified and now feared for her life and she didn't know how to make any of it better. She could feel his heart beat quicken at her touch, but in that instance she only cared about the warmth that he was providing.

This whole situation was fucked up.

She wanted to tell Warren everything. From start to finish. But he wouldn't understand, no one would understand. She wanted to scream, maybe even break down but she was Max. She was supposed to be strong. Everyone always saw that on the outside, never the internal struggle on the inside. To them she was always fine. However, she most certainly wasn't fine. She hadn't been for a long time, or even a long time before that.

"Max… I wish you would talk to me." Warren said soothingly in a deep voice.

She shook her head against his chest. If only she could. She wanted to blurt out everything, even if it made sense to no one else, just to get it off her chest.

"Max…" Warren spoke again, this time his voice commanding.

This was something she had never heard from him before. He was always soft spoken and unsure. She turned her face to look up at him, wondering what commanded such attention. Warren moved his arm from around her back and brought his hand to her cheek, using his thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked, even when crying. Her pale complexion bathed in the moonlight. His cheeks flushed red as his gaze fell to that of her lips. They always looked so perfect and soft.

Warren swallowed the lump in his throat. Ever since the moment he had first met Maxine Caulfield, he had known that he was in love with her. When he first saw her across the quad, he knew there was something about her that drew him to her. And ever since that moment they had been best friends. He was always there for her, and that would never change. He never wanted it to.

However, the last year things had most definitely changed. She was so distant from him, and when he did finally get the pleasure of her company, she was never completely there. Something was always on her mind. He hated that, more so the fact that he couldn't even get her to talk about it. She would always close off and bail on him, so eventually, for the most part he stopped trying to ask about it. But in this instance, it's like everything had been forgotten. It was just like how it used to be.

"Max…" he barely whispered, moving his attention back to her blue eyes.

She slightly furrowed her brow at him, unsure in this moment just what was happening. She was confused. This whole day had left her in a haze.

Warren slid his palm over her cheek, cupping it in his hand. Closing his eyes, he leaned down and captured her lips upon his. He had been waiting years to finally kiss Max Caulfield.

Max's eyes snapped open, and she felt Warren pull her closer to him as he pushed his lips harder against hers. For a few seconds she was in shock. She knew that Warren had always had a crush on her, mainly due to the week that she had hung out with Chloe, but she never thought in a million years that he would act on his feelings. Nor that his feelings for her were so strong.

Finally, coming to her senses she was able to push Warren away. Still in shock, she was only able to stare at him with her mouth wide open, his taste still on her lips. He looked back at her, equally confused but for a different reason. Then his attention moved from her to something over Max's shoulder. When she realised, she slowly turned around to see.

It was Chloe.

The blue haired girl was quickly closing the gap between her and the two, and as the kiss separated and Max turned to her, she had shoved Warren in the shoulder, pushing him further from Max. The boy stumbled back slightly, and Max took a step to the side to save from being in Chloe's way. Her bright blue eyes were angrily fixed on Warren, her eyebrows heavily furrowed, ready to kick his ass before turning to Max. Max however could not see any anger, only a girl seething with jealousy

"Chloe…" she began, only to be cut off by the tall girl.

She gave a small, curt smile to her friend before waving over her shoulder and walking away. "You're killin' it lately. Way to snag a B-friend, Super Max." she said in monotone.

Everything was truly fucked up.

Max could only stand and watch as she walked away. She wanted to stop her, she wanted to scream at her. She even wanted in that instant to hit her, but she could not force herself to move. She couldn't explain what had just happened to her, she couldn't even explain it to herself, nor was she able to explain everything else. But still, Chloe's reaction…was she finally beginning to remember?

Chloe lit a cigarette before she reached her truck, getting in to her Pick-up she screeched off, speeding out of the car park and down the street. As far away from Max as she could.

Warren again stepped close to Max and went to put his arm around her to comfort her, instead this time it was Max to push at his chest.

"Stop. Warren. What the hell was that?" she asked angrily.

Warren looked down, clearly hurt. "I'm sorry, Max. I just thought…" he stopped, now unsure of everything.

"You just thought what?!" Max yelled, throwing her hand to the side. She knew it was wrong, yet she couldn't help it. She was so frustrated and angry. Not just with him, but with herself. With Chloe. With Cole. How could she let this happen?

Dejected, Warren just stood there, unsure what to say whilst Max continued to yell at him.

"Warren… how could you?" Max muttered, her voice finally dropping low as she gave up, defeated.

"Max, I… I'm sorry." He looked down, anything to take his gaze away from the intense stare of his best friend. "I just thought that after the other night you finally noticed." He began, not entirely sure if he should finish. He had already done enough. "After you said that you were interested in someone. I thought… I thought that maybe it might have been me. I thought you had finally noticed me."

Max sighed audibly, folding her arms impatiently and looking away. "Warren. I notice you, I always notice you. You're my friend."

"But I'm just that, aren't I?" his voice trembled, finally having to admit that to himself.

"Yes, you're just my friend, Warren." She felt mean, but it needed to be cleared up for good. "That's all you will ever be. Chloe she…"

Warren forced a smile in an attempt to reassure his friend that he was going to be okay. What was a little bit of heartbreak?

"You're my friend, Warren." Max reiterated. "That won't change. This won't change it. Is that okay? Will that be okay?"

"Yeah." The brunette boy nodded. "It has to be, doesn't it? I don't really get a choice, do I?"

Max frowned, glancing to the side. "Yes, it has to be. There is no choice, Warren. I don't feel the same way about you. I can't feel the same way about you. I…. I need to go." She trailed off, pushing her way passed Warren so she could eject herself from the situation she had never found herself in before. She just hoped she had handled it correctly.

* * *

Days had passed since that night, and Max was yet to lift herself from her bed. She felt so defeated. Rewinding had been on her mind for the last couple of days, but after she saved Chloe, she promised both Chloe and herself that she would not do it again. She couldn't even rewind to remove Cole from her existence. Chloe still had not messaged her, neither had Warren. In fact, no one had spoken to her in all of those days, with the exception of a couple messaged from her parents to make sure she was doing okay and a few phone calls from a Private number which she was quick to ignore, assuming that it was Cole.

Max rolled over in her bed, staring at the wall. Her chest hurt and she didn't know how to make it stop. Considering how she felt the last year, this was surprisingly the worst. Chloe wasn't gone anymore, and now that she was here, she wanted nothing to do with Max. She pulled her knees tightly to her chest and closed her eyes tight. It was just one mistake after another with her.

She wanted nothing more than to revert in to her own mind. Somewhere where the things in the present weren't happening. When she still had both of her friends and she didn't need to hide out from someone who wanted to use her for his own sick needs.

Her phone buzzed. She didn't want to look at it. She was scared of what it would say, if it would be Chloe finally yelling at her, or saying she was leaving and wanted nothing to do with her anymore. Or if it was Cole telling her he would find her. Finally Max built up the courage to look at her phone.

It was Warren.

She let out a frustrated sigh. It wasn't the message she was hoping for but it wasn't the message she hoping she wouldn't receive either. This was a neutral she would force herself to be okay with.

 ** _"Hey Max, I haven't heard from you or seen you around in class and just wanted to apologise for the other night. I just got caught up in the moment._**

 ** _Do you want to catch a flick tonight, Doctor Max? Your choice. So we can talk about it._**

 ** _Either way, just let me know that you're okay._**

 ** _Alright?_**

 ** _Max?"_**

Max put the phone down.

It was hitting her hard. She needed Chloe.

She curled back in to her ball, sobbing in to her hands. Never had she ever felt so weak and she hated it. She wasn't someone that broke down like this. Even if she ever felt sad, she just brushed it off. Pretending that the feelings weren't there. It was better than letting anyone know her true feelings.

She convinced herself to get off her bed, instead shuffling to the bathroom. She briefly caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror before looking away. She looked horrendous and was glad that there was no one around to see her.

She relaxed back in the bath, allowing the too hot water to envelope her body up to her jaw. It was nice to float in something. To feel no pressure on her body, to ease the aching in her heart. It was a welcome release. There was no pressure of the world on her shoulders, she could just be. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before exhaling. The only noise around her was the sound of the tap dripping slowly. She welcomed it, for in complete silence her brain would not allow her to rest. With this, she could focus on that and momentarily take her mind off it all.

 _"This is too hard…"_ she thought to herself gently moving her hands in the water, feeling the liquid move between her finger tips.

She found her mind focusing on things in the past. Tormenting her. She had always thought what would have happened if she had died that day instead of Chloe. The only thing that stopped her trying was the fact that she hadn't thought of it at the time. And now the photograph was gone. What would life even be like without Max Caulfield in it? It's not like she would ever know, as she wouldn't be around but she still had to wonder. It wouldn't have effected Chloe much, she figured. In that timeline, she hadn't seen Max in years, she probably thought she would never see her again.

At the same time however, Max would have had to stop Chloe being shot in the bathroom. Chloe would have seen her. Would have seen her die… In that timeline, she would have had to die in Chloe's place to stop the storm from ever happening. To stop her from screwing up the timeline. Would Chloe have even been bothered?

Or, she supposed she could have just travelled further back than that and just taken her own life.

Max frowned, sinking lower in the bath until her head was completely covered. With her blue eyes open, she looked through the water to the distorted light on the ceiling. There was something serene about being underwater that Max had always found comfort in. The same calming effect the rain had always had. She blinked slowly, holding her breath.

She was just an ordinary girl, why did these powers choose her, out of anyone in the world, why was she burdened with them? She wasn't anything special. She was just a normal girl, with normal likes, with normal friends. There was nothing extraordinary about her. And now some guy she had never meant before was after her just for them. For what she didn't know. But she knew it couldn't have been good. Considering he brought up Mark Jefferson. Nothing good ever came from knowing him.

She could feel the air in her lungs slowly running out and the pressure building in her chest. She closed her eyes and focused hard, wanting to stay under water.

She hadn't made a difference in anyone's life, not really. Everything she had changed had been undone. In the past year, she hadn't done anything to make anyone's life better. Sure she had helped to bring justice to all the people that Nathan Prescott and Mark Jefferson had wronged, but at what expense? People had still died. People were still hurt. She was hurt.

Her eyes clenched tighter, and she slightly shook her head against the water, the pressure in her chest and head now becoming unbearable.

She was tired of being good. She was tired of always trying to do what was right just so everyone else would be happy, when she herself was not. She knew that was partly her fault, but there were things completely out of her control that she couldn't change.

She felt angry everyone took her for granted, considering she had saved all their lives. Max clenched her fists. She had powers, she could stop time. Everyone should have been terrified of her. They all should have treated her with the respect and dignity she deserved. She could change it all. She could fuck them all over in an instant. Max had lived in terror so they could all sleep soundly, and what for? For her to have this existence.

But she could never be that person, she could never be that person that deliberately scared anyone. That willingly would not help.

Maybe all she had to do was stop running? Maybe Victoria was right, just not in the way she intended to be.

Maybe after everything it was time to stop fighting her fate. Things weren't getting better, and it seemed everyday things were getting increasingly worse. She could no longer convince herself that she was feeling better. That she could tackle every day. There was just no kidding herself anymore. She had tried really hard. So hard for a year to put the pieces back together, but it all still came crumbling down around her. Even when she thought she had fixed everything, it all still came crashing down. Maybe this had been her fate all along. Would anyone even notice that she was gone?

She exhaled, allowing the last of the air in her lungs to escape.

She felt the water around her move, bubbles moving around her skin and she opened her eyes. There was a shadowy figure standing in front of her, blocking the light. She could hear yelling, but to her it was all just muffled noise. Then two hands grasped her shoulders. She began to furiously flail her legs, her hands grabbing on to the arms that were holding on to her.

"No…"

She fought. She fought as hard as she could.

"…ax!"

Nothing. She couldn't understand.

"Max!" the voice this time yelled louder, with more urgency.

Then she was pulled out of the water, the light around her was blinding. Two arms were wrapped tightly around her torso, pulling her body to theirs tight enough that they might have merged.

Max slowly came to, trying to focus on the angel who had come from nowhere to pull her form the water. It can't have just been a coincidence. She spluttered, water moving from her lungs to her throat and finally out of her mouth.

She had almost drown.

"Max!" the voice again said, shaking her body. "You've got to wake up."

Again Max coughed, finally bringing up all the water in her lungs and her vision finally came back. First she only saw the blue hair resting against her face as the body held her. Her eyelids dropped, but she forced them to snap open again, this time her eyes focusing on the tattoo.

Max was tired. She was ready to sleep.

"Max…" the girl again said, this time softly. "What have you done?"

Chloe held Max tightly above the water, refusing again to let her go back under. Her clothes were soaked and she was cold, but she would never risk letting her go.

She held her until she felt Max finally make some movements in her arms. She struggled slightly and then pushed her away lightly. Chloe sat back, moving to sit on the toilet seat as Max sat up in the bath, pulling her knees to her chest in an attempt to comfort herself. She almost had her release but it was cruelly taken away from her.

Chloe looked upon her, her best friend was naked.

It was the wrong moment, but she couldn't help it, she blushed slightly. They had seen each other undress all the time, but not since they were kids. Their bodies had changed a lot since then.

"You shouldn't be here, Chloe." Max finally said angrily, her throat raw and tender. Angry that this had been taken from her.

"Clearly I should be. What would have happened if I didn't come looking for you, huh? You're an idiot." She retorted back, furious in her own right.

"It's my decision. It's never been my decision before, but this time it is." She stared down in to the water, just barely being able to make out her reflection.

"Is this what you want? Do you want to… die?" her voice trailed off, not wanting to even say the word.

Max shook her head. Did she want to die? She wasn't sure. The only thing she knew for sure was that she could no longer feel this way anymore. The pressure, it was all too much. "I don't know." She finally replied honestly.

Chloe hung her head and the two sat there in silence for a while. She never realised that her best friend was in that much trouble, granted she had been through a lot. She however, always just seemed fine. And whilst Chloe knew better, she could never see the real extent of it. Max always adverted her eyes from her at her most vulnerable times. She never understood why until now. It suddenly all made sense.

"It's been a hell of a year, hasn't it?" Chloe asked, finally turning her head to look at her frail friend.

Max didn't move. The water was beginning to get cold, but she couldn't make herself move from it. To some extent, it was safe. It held her and comforted her. She couldn't speak, nothing would come out of her mouth. Not that she wanted to speak, she had no idea what to say.

"Look Max… I understand. I didn't before, but I do now. And there is still a lot I don't know, but I want to know." She fidgeted with her fingers. "I'm sorry about before…" She stopped, remembering seeing Warren and Max together. The utter jealousy she felt seeing them embrace. She clenched her fists shut. "With you and Warren." She began, not entirely sure where she was going. She didn't want to tell Max how she felt about her, she wasn't ready to put all her cards out on the table just yet for the fear that Max might leave her forever. "It was out of line, and I overreacted. You're my friend and I… uh… I don't want to see you get hurt. But if Warren makes you happy…" she couldn't say anymore. That thought of them together made her physically ill.

Max shifted slightly in the water trying to swallow the ever growing lump in her throat. She wanted to tell Chloe that it was nothing, that she hadn't meant for it to happen but she still couldn't. She pulled her knees tightly to her chest and rested her chin on them. She couldn't do anything, with Chloe watching her that way.

"Thank you for saving me, Max. I never thanked you for that. I was never there for you before, but I can be now if you'd let me." She gave a small reassuring smile in Max's direction. "You just have to let me in, Super-Max."

Max turned her head to look at the blue haired girl, for someone with an attitude such as Chloe, her being so sincere meant a lot. "Chloe I…" she finally managed to whisper, suddenly feeling self-conscious that she was very naked in front of this girl. "I think I'm broken."

"I know, Max." Chloe said sadly, keeping a close eye on her friend.

Tears began to fall from Max's blue eyes and rolled down her cheeks, dropping in to the water. "I don't know… I don't know how to fix it."

"How about we get you out of here first, and then we can figure it all out. Together." She suggested, wanting to get her friend out of the cold water. She was genuinely worried about her.

Max however kept on her train of thought, ignoring Chloe's request. "How… to make it stop, how to make the feeling go away. It won't… I saw you die. So many times. I saw so many people die…"

"Hey, I know." Chloe stood from her seat and moved closer to the bath, making the decision that she needed to be closer to Max. She threw her legs over the side of the bath behind Max one at a time and nestled in behind her. The bath was small, but could easily fit the two petite girls. She moved her legs to either side of the brunette, her knees just poking out of the water and held them to her sides. Finally, with minor hesitation, she snaked her arms around her waist and pulled her back against her chest as if she were keeping her afloat. "We can stay in here for as long as you need. Whatever you need, Max."

Max began to sob. Sobs that racked her whole body in to convulsions and Chloe just held her. Keeping her grounded.

"I can't… I can't breathe…" she managed to choke out between sobs, thinking of all the things she had done to hurt Chloe. "I'm in trouble… I'm in so much trouble Chloe… and I can't breathe anymore…"

Chloe rubbed her back slowly. "It'll pass soon. You just need to breathe. Like me…" Chloe whispered close to her ear. "Feel my chest rising and falling against your back?"

Max gave a small nod.

"Just breathe along with me. We'll get through this." She nudged her nose against the back of her shoulder in support.

Max focused hard. Closing her eyes she felt Chloe's chest rise and fall against her back, her heart thumping hard against it. That's what she focused on, her heartbeat. It was calm and strong, drawing her in to it. Shortly her breathing had returned to normal. Uncontrollable tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but her body was no longer shaking. She could feel Chloe's fingers in the back of her hair, gently stroking it. Then her hands were on her arms, rubbing them soothingly before her hands were back around her waist, holding her tightly. Her cheek was rested against her back and in that moment Max had never felt more warmth.

"There's still so much for you to fill me in on. I know not all of it will be good, but Max, I can't wait to understand it. To understand you. To finally be able to help you." Chloe smiled against her bare skin, rubbing her cheek against the back of her shoulder.

She wasn't sure how long it had been, but the water in the bath was now freezing. Chloe was still breathing soothingly against her back. Max knew that she was cold by the shivers that she was desperately trying to hide. Max too was cold, but she was always cold, there was always that numb feeling within her now. As selfish as she was being, she couldn't make her friend suffer anymore.

"Chloe, I think… I think I'm ready to go to bed now." She whispered, almost inaudibly.

Chloe only gave a nod and stood up from behind the girl. Giving a small stretch, she stepped out of the bath, the water from her drenched clothes pooling at her feet on the floor and grabbed the towel that was placed at the base of the bath. Opening it up, she held it out for the brunette. Max slowly rose to her feet and delicately stepped out on to the bath mat. Under normal circumstances she would have been embarrassed, however in this instance, it was the last thing on her mind. She stepped in to Chloe's arms, resting her forehead on her friends shoulder. Chloe in turn wrapped the towel around the Max, pulling her in for another tight and reassuring hug.

Chloe pulled back the covers and helped her in to bed, gently tucking her in. Never in her life had she been so sensitive, but when it came to Max it was all coming naturally. She sat down on the edge of the bed next to her and watched her as she closed her pale blue eyes. The beautiful eyes she loved getting lost in.

Chloe looked down and watched Max, content that she was now in bed and okay. "You need to sleep… So call me when you wake up… or text me. Whatever, I'll answer. I'll be up. Or, if you need me, just please call me... No more baths." she finished with a smile before she went to stand.

Chloe was surprised when she felt resistance in the form of Max grabbing the back of her shirt. She looked back and Max was looking up at her with wide eyes.

"What's wrong, Caulfield?" she queried, growing concerned with each passing second of silence.

"Don't… Please, don't go." Max mumbled, feeling small and insignificant.

Chloe gave a small chuckle. "I need to go get changed. I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a bit wet." She blushed, realising the implication of her words. "But I'll come back?"

Max in response just tugged her clothes harder. She never wanted her to go. "Stay."

It's not like Chloe wanted to go. She would love nothing more than to stay with her friend, however her clothes were saturated, and more to the point there was a very naked Max Caulfield presented before her. She thought hard before giving a nod. "Okay… I'll stay with you, Max." she smiled. "But you owe me breakfast in the morning." She joked.

Pulling off all of her wet clothes until she was as naked as Max, she pulled back the covers and climbed in behind Max. It was predominantly dark, so she was able to do so without hesitation. The only light came from the moon shining through the window, bathing Max's pale skin in light.

There was nothing between them. No barriers holding them back. It was just them. Chloe laid on her back staring at the ceiling. Max had been right, everything was messed up. But if she was here for any reason, it was to make things right.

Chloe felt Max's hand fall in to hers, and her fingers lace with hers. The blue haired girl gave her hand a reassuring squeeze in return.

"Max, it's going to be okay." She whispered, closing her eyes as if trying to convince herself of that fact. This was major. The fact that Max had wanted to die was a big deal, and it wouldn't be easily forgotten, but there was no way Chloe would let her friend slip away from her. Not again. "Whatever these demons are, whatever the demons you are facing are, we will fight them together. Just like we used to, back when it was just us two. I'll fight them for you." She gave Max's hand another reassuring squeeze. Because no one fucks with my Max Fucking Caulfield and gets away with it. I'll fucking fight them all."

Tugging her friends hand, Max pulled until Chloe rolled on her side and her arm was snuggle around her waist. She had no inhibitions, she was far too exhausted for that. Her brain literally in that moment could not think. She just knew what she wanted, and her body was reacting.

Chloe blushed, pulling her frail friends naked body closer to hers, curling around her to hold her tightly and securely. If this had taught her anything, she would never let her go again.

"Chloe…" Max said quietly, content in that moment that it was just them and she was finally safe. She could finally sleep. When she felt Chloe nudged her back gently, she gave a contented sigh.

Closing her eyes, she felt herself drifting off to sleep but she wasn't ready. There was still something she needed to say and she would fight sleep to say it, she would fight anything to be able to say it. Finally speaking the words that she had held for so long. Sleepily she began to mutter, low enough so only Chloe would hear it.

"Chloe, I love you."

* * *

 _ **Well there ya go. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed up to this point, it's great hearing what you guys all think.**_

 _ **And well, for the bath now being in her room thing... I actually had written this a while ago before I had written a lot of the story so yeah... I will more than likely fix it so it fits in with the story so no worries there. I just wanted to get this up for you guys.**_

 _ **I hope you're happy with it and the direction it's going. It'll probably be pretty Pricefield orientated from here... with some Victoria thrown in there. Atleast we can get to the mushy stuff now though, right? No more Max heartache? The next chapter atleast will be particularly fluffy as Chloe and Max work their shit out. :)**_


	12. Memories

Chloe awoke to Max shifting in her arms. She smiled, pressing her lips against the brunettes bare shoulder. It was nice that Max was finally able to get some sleep and it was nice that she was still awake to watch over her. Chloe's eyelids were heavy and she wanted nothing more than to drift back to sleep, but at the same time she wanted to be here for her when she woke up. That and she had never felt more content in her life. There was something about this that felt more right than anything had in a long time.

There was a knock on the door and Chloe cursed who was on the other side.

Max let a small whine escape her lips and she turned in Chloe's arms. When she opened her eyes, she was met with the azure blue ones of her best friend. She stared back at her, all of her worries feeling so insignificant in that moment. Chloe smiled at her, dropping her forehead against Max's. She wasn't sure what they were doing, but she wasn't going to ruin the moment.

There was another loud knock, this time more urgent.

"I don't want to see whoever that is…" Max whispered almost inaudibly, closing her eyes again. "Please make them go away… Please." She pleaded.

Chloe gave a nod, and with a yawn she reluctantly removed herself from the warm embrace. There was another knock as she searched around in the morning light for her underwear which she quickly pulled on, followed by her bra. She shuffled to the door and opened it.

Standing there was Warren.

He had a smile on his face which was quick to disappear at the sight of a half-naked Chloe.

Chloe gave a sheepish smile. "Oh hey, Warren…"

Max sat up in her bed at the mention of his name, clutching the sheets to her bare chest. A 'deer stuck in the headlights' expression on her face.

Warren swallowed the lump in his throat and tried not to look Chloe up and down. He was a guy, after all. "Is uh… Max here?" he mumbled.

Chloe looked over her shoulder at the frail Max and gave her head a small shake. "Sorry, man. She's not really up to seeing anyone. Is it anything I can help with?"

Warren could see past Chloe and knew that Max was in bed naked. His mind wandering to only one conclusion. "No… No." he stammered. "I just… wanted to make sure that she was okay. I messaged her last night and she uh… didn't reply. I was worried. I'm sorry, this is a bad time."

Chloe gave a sympathetic nod, stepping out of the door, she closed it a bit behind her to get out of earshot of Max. "She's not okay, Warren. But she will be. She'll need our help."

Warren nodded and looked down. He understood. He wasn't 100% certain what Max had been through, but he knew it was rough. Being jealous right now was not what Max needed. He turned to walk away but was stopped by the punk grabbing his arm.

"Warren… I'm sorry." She began, unsure where to finish.

"Yeah. Me too." He said with sadness as he shook his head and walked away.

Chloe came back inside and closed the door behind her. Leaning back against it she took a deep breath. She rubbed her face before she dropped her hands and looked over at Max. She suddenly felt very self-conscious of the fact that she was wearing barely any clothes. She watched Max, unable to move. This girl, the one that made her feel this way, she loved someone else. It caused her chest to ache.

How could Chloe even compete?

The blue haired girl continued to stare at the brunette as if she had something to say or ask but something was stopping her.

"I didn't kiss him, you know…" Max finally said, breaking the silence.

Chloe raised her gaze from the ground and cocked an eyebrow at the brunette. She played aloof, but she knew exactly what Max was talking about.

"I didn't kiss Warren… He kissed me. I didn't… I didn't want it. And then you were there." Max frowned, stumbling over her words.

Chloe could feel her cheeks flush red, and she gulped as she glanced to the side, willing to make it disappear before she was exposed. "Max, you don't need to explain anything to me."

"He's just a friend…" she whispered, almost unconvincingly unintentionally. "I need to… I need to finish clearing some things up with him. Just not now. I can't."

Chloe shook her head, letting a deep sigh escape her lips. She really didn't need to hear this. She didn't want to know anything about their little life together. He had been all she had since she had moved back to Arcadia Bay, and she hated to think everything that meant. And there was so much uncertainty behind her tone.

Max laid back down in bed, hugging the sheets tightly to her body. She just wanted to sleep.

"Do you have classes today?" Chloe finally asked, breaking the silence.

Max let out a small groan. "I can't go…"

Chloe crossed the room and sat next to Max on the bed. She reached out her arm to rest it on her shoulder, only to have Max pull away from her. Confused, she looked down at the girl.

"Everything is falling down around me... And I don't know what to do." Max whispered, hiding her head under the blanket as if it would protect her from the world.

"I meant everything I said last night, Max." Chloe stated matter of fact. "We can get through it together."

"Chloe, I need to tell you something else." Max pulled the covers off her head before looking Chloe in the eyes. "I know I can't make you promise to not be furious at me but please…" Max begged, sitting up in her bed. It was now or never. "Victoria… we kissed. But it's not like you think." She quickly added before Chloe could get the wrong idea. "I need to explain something to you."

Chloe wanted to leave. She wanted to turn around, open the door and run away. Her heart dropped at the mere words. First Warren, and now Victoria? Was there anyone else she didn't know about?

"Hear me out, please." Max reached out and placed her hand on Chloe's arm.

It took everything Chloe had not to leave. Clenching her teeth she looked away from Max. Her chest had never felt so heavy, not even when she found out about Rachel and Frank. The tightness was almost enough to consume her.

"There's so much you don't know. And I don't even know where to begin. I'm fucked up, Chloe. I'm fucked up because I spent the last year without you." Max trailed off, realising that she was about to tell Chloe everything. That there was no going back.

"Max… You didn't even live here and then everything with Nathan Prescott and Mark Jefferson happened….And it takes two people to keep in contact, Max." Looking down, Chloe thought about all the time they had spent apart and her stomach lurched in to her chest.

Max shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I WAS back. I've been here, you just weren't."

Chloe narrowed her eyes at the brunette, feeling angry at the accusations. "What are you talking about? I haven't gone anywhere."

"You don't remember, Chloe. Because it technically never happened. At least I don't think so…" Max took a deep breath. This was it. "Chloe, one year ago you died. Nathan shot you and I had to watch it happen. You… we chose to let it happen."

Chloe waved her hand dismissively. "You're not really making any sense, Max."

"You died, Chloe." Max pulled her knees to her chest. "You fucking died. I…. One year ago I discovered that I had powers, that I could rewind time. Nathan shot you and I saved you. I rewound time and I saved you. Those dreams you've been having Chloe, they really happened."

Chloe looked down, slowly internalizing what Max was saying. It was completely absurd, but still she knew that the dreams she had been having were strange and this would be an answer. She wanted to deny it, yell at Max for lying to her, but she knew deep down that Max never would. "Max… I don't know."

"I know it's strange, Chloe. But it wasn't just a dream, not to me at least. It all happened." Shaking her head, Max finally settled her eyes on her friend. "I know it's hard to believe but you need to trust me."

The punk girl looked down, taking a deep breath. "So, everything I see, everything I feel, it's because I've experienced it before? Every feeling…?"

"Yes. At least I think so. I mean, I want to fill you in on it all, even the hard parts. But something is wrong with me, Chloe. I can no longer control it. I don't have a choice when it happens anymore. It repeats, over and over and I can't… I can't get out of it. I'm always just stuck in a loop until it sorts itself out. When I… Chloe…" Max sighed. "The other day, when you left in the morning you came back. At least in one reality you did. And I…" She studied her friends eyes, unsure how she would take what she was about to say. "I… kissed you." She trailed off quietly, a faint blush resting on her cheeks. "We kissed and then it happened. It rewound." Max rubbed at her eyes, recalling that moment as if it was happening again. "And it kept rewinding. I had to keep living it, knowing that you wouldn't remember. That everything I told you would be forgotten. And then… eventually you just didn't show up at all. I fucked it up so much that you never came."

"Max, I…" Chloe's eyes flickered unsure.

"That night Victoria came. I was upset and that's no excuse, but I was so fucked and she was there. It went to happen again, I could feel it taking me, Chloe. Time was ripping me away from everything and she… she stopped it. I don't know how but she stopped it. I was so fucking grateful that I just let it happen."

"So you… liked it? Like Victoria…?" Chloe asked hesitantly, unsure if this was a topic she even wanted to touch base on.

"Please let me finish…"Max requested.

Chloe gave a nod and closed her open mouth.

"I gave in to it. It was selfish but I gave in to it. I don't know why she could stop it, and you… and you couldn't." Max paused trailing off, now being forced to consider why. She sighed. "No… No, I don't think I do like Victoria that way. I was upset and she was there… I stopped it though, Chloe. Even though it felt nice for my powers to be under control, I risked it all and stopped it."

Chloe glanced to the side, trying to hide the pain behind her eyes. "Why? If she could help you, why stop it?"

Max gave a faint hint of a smile as the very corner of her lip curled upwards. "You really can be such an idiot sometimes, can't you, Chloe Price?"

Chloe scowled.

"I stopped it because I thought of you. Of how I'd much rather be kissing you. That I never wanted to hurt you. It sucks that I fucked it up, that I couldn't control my powers around you but I realised… I realised that I wouldn't give up kissing you for anything."

Chloe's frown disappeared, being replaced by a blank slate before softening to a smile.

"I know you don't remember and maybe you won't ever remember, but I hope you do. And if you never remember I hope we get to make memories again together." Max smiled more, looking down. "When I'm around you, my heart races so god damn much… I get anxious... but in a good way. I guess partly because I couldn't tell you how I felt about you…"

"Why couldn't you?" Chloe asked, her eyebrow arched.

"In this time line, I didn't know how you felt about me. For all I knew, you were still in love with Rachel Amber. I didn't want to fuck up our friendship. I had lost you for so long, I didn't want to again."

Chloe wanted to deny it, but she would have been lying to her friend.

"I don't know what is causing my powers to mess up, but I think… I think we could figure it out together?" Max stopped, apprehensive in that moment, doing what she could to not look at Chloe. "If it happens around you, I want to figure out a way to stop it. I don't want to miss another minute with you again."

Chloe exhaled softly. Instead of speaking, she reached out her hand and stroked Max's cheek with her thumb, totally lost for words at the fact her friend was being so forward and open about how she felt about her.

Max looked up, her blue eyes meeting Chloe's and matching her gaze. She smiled at Chloe's goofy lop sided smile and slightly tilted her head to the side, leaning in to her hand.

"We'll figure it out together." Chloe affirmed.

Max closed her eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Chloe, I… I don't want to lose you again. I can't… I can't lose you again."

Chloe shook her head. "You don't have to Max. You never have to again. It'll take more than all of this to get rid of me. You're stuck with me now. Plus, you still have a lot to fill me in on."

"… Like a bad smell?" Max jested, unable to help herself.

"How dare you, Caulfield!" Chloe said in mock hurt.

Max almost leaped forward, wrapping her arms around Chloe and resting her cheek on her shoulder, burying her face in her neck. "Don't go anywhere."

Chloe wrapped her arms protectively around Max.

"It was so hard… being able to see you, being able to smell you but not being able to touch you" Max sat back up, looking down and grabbing Chloe's hands to play with her fingers. "Knowing that you didn't remember, knowing that I couldn't tell you. There's so many things I wanted and I just had to try and pretend that they didn't exist. That was the hardest part. Pretending like I hadn't had these things with you. That I didn't have these feelings for you."

Chloe watched her in the silence that fell over the two, enjoying her touch but noticing her apprehension.

"Chloe… I think I'm in trouble." Max finally spoke, looking up to her friend. "When I went to the diner, I met with someone called Cole. He knew about me, my powers and what I had done. I was scared, Chloe." She shook her head. "He said I took something from him. He said he would do whatever it took to get it back. He was serious, Chloe…. He brought up Mark Jefferson…I." she paused before finishing. "I didn't tell him that I could no longer control my powers. I had to get out of there. I'm scared…"

Chloe took Max's hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Whoever this guy is, if he messes with you…"

Max again shook her head. "He's serious, Chloe. I saw the way he looked at me. I… I don't think he's going to stop."

Chloe scowled. "If he tries to hurt you Max, I swear to god I'll kill him." She growled, meaning every single word.

Max frowned. "Chloe, don't… I can't lose you again. You can't…"

"Shut up, Max." Chloe scolded. "We're in this together now. Whoever this asshole is, he better stay out of our way."

Max smiled, realising there was no point in arguing with someone so stubborn. "Do you think… we could stay here today? I mean, just us two. I'm so tired and… honestly, I just want to stay here with you. I have you back and I don't want to give that up yet. And there is still so much to talk about that we should probably just stay here today…"

Chloe couldn't help but laugh, her reasoning was flawed, but she appreciated it. "I could pretend like I was going to make you go to school, but I think, just for today at least we could give it a miss."

Max laid down on the bed and waited for Chloe to lay down beside her. She was still unsure what was okay and what was not okay, but holding her breath she took a chance and curled up beside Chloe when she finally got the hint and laid with her. Max rested her head on Chloe's chest. She released it when she felt Chloe's arm move around her and gently begin to stroke her upper arm.

"I'm so glad you're here Chloe. I mean, still here. I didn't know how telling you all of that would go… I was so scared." She closed her eyes, feeling Chloe's chest rising and falling against her cheek. Her heart rate was slow and steady.

"I can't blame you for everything you've done… You've been through a lot. I don't understand it fully yet but hopefully I will. Victoria… and Warren, I mean, I can't pretend that it doesn't hurt but it is one thing I do understand. I'll get over it."

"You're… different." Max finally said. "In a good way."

Chloe smiled. "Like a grown up!"

"I don't think you'll ever be a grown up… but that's okay. You just need to be Chloe for me. Chloe…" Max paused, allowing her voice to trail off. "How… how do you feel about me?"

Chloe felt an ever so slight blush grace her cheeks as she was caught off guard.

"You… you don't have to answer." Max finally added, unsure by the silence that fell.

"Max, I…" she stopped, not wanting to say the wrong thing. "I just need time. This, everything, it's all so new. All the things you're telling me, it's a lot to take in. It's so overwhelming."

"Oh…" Max breathed heavily, feeling a pang of pain in her chest and wishing she had never asked.

Chloe closed her eyes, allowing herself to draw Max closer to her body. "Max, I love you too." She whispered close to her ear, almost seductively. "I have ever since we were kids. And when I saw you again… it all came back. It never fully went away." She paused, her brain a jumbled mess. "Shit man, you know I'm not good at these things. What I meant was that I just need time to sort out all these things in my head." She gently pressed her lips to Max's shoulder, enjoying her soft skin against them.

Max shuddered at her touch, closing her eyes. She never thought she would hear it from Chloe, and as time passed it seemed more and more unlikely that she would.

"One thing I do know, Max." the blue haired girl whispered, her lips barely brushing Max's skin. "I know that out of everything that has happened, you're the best thing that has happened to me. To this dumb place. And I don't understand all these things I feel, or these memories in my head, but they're all telling me that I… that I want you. That I want to protect you." She smiled. "That I want to be with you. And honestly, I've never been more sure of anything."

Max couldn't help but smile as she turned in Chloe's arms. She could feel her cheeks burn red with heat as they flushed red. Looking in to Chloe's eyes, she also had never been more sure of anything in her life. However, she had been sure for a long time but now it was all finally real. Max shyly looked down, unable to take Chloe looking at her that way anymore.

Chloe had other plans though as she raised her hand to cup Max's cheek, instantly feeling the warmth.

Max looked back up, her eyes locking with Chloe's and for the first time she was able to see everything behind her eyes. All the emotion and passion that Chloe was feeling, she was finally allowing Max to see. She was finally letting Max in.

Chloe arched her head until her lips brushed against Max's, swearing to herself that she had never felt anything more soft in her life. Her heart pounded in her chest, both from nervousness and from finally kissing the girl she had had loved for as long as she could remember. Max Caulfield, the most beautiful girl in the world, who could be with anyone, but instead was here with her. Wanting her.

Max leaned in to Chloe until their lips were no longer just brushing and she took her lip between hers, finally kissing her the way she had wanted for so long. Closing her eyes, she allowed her body to push firmly against Chloe's, enjoying the feel of it against hers.

* * *

 _ **I'd planned on this chapter being longer, it was meant to dive more in to Max's explaination for Chloe coming back, and an altercation with Cole and such, but I really haven't had time to write anything. o; So I have had to settle for this short thing because I really wanted to get something up for you guys. But I feel the need to apologise for nothing really happening...**_

 _ **There's always next chapter for all that though.**_

 _ **I feel partly as if I have to explain the Victoria thing, as quite a few people thought it was sudden and out of place. However, things happen that you don't plan to happen. Emotions get the better of you and before you know it you've made a mistake. It can happen with anything in life. And sometimes when you're having a hard time, you will do whatever you can to make yourself feel right, even if for a little while, even if it isn't right. And that's what it was about. Giving in to Max's own selfish desires to feel normal again and then fighting the fact that she couldn't hurt someone she loved. It was a growth thing I guess. I'm sure many of you can relate to similar feelings.**_

 _ **Anyways, I've taken Sunday off work, so I will try to write the next chapter that evening and either get it posted that day or Wednesday/Thursday.**_

 _ **Thank you so much for all your reviews and the kind words. It really means a lot to hear that you're enjoying it, and it's thoroughly motivating to hear that you actually enjoy my writing- especially when I don't like something I've posted. I'll usually go back and re-read it and find something I like about it thanks to your encouragements. Keep them coming!**_


	13. Dark Room

Chloe laid with Max on her bed, the blue haired girl holding her hand gently in hers and played with her fingers. The midday sun was pouring through the window and bathing the two in its warmth. Max gave a lazy yawn as she turned her head to look at Chloe.

The two had done nothing at all productive with their day other than relish each other's company. After they had napped together, they had just laid in silence, every now and again touching one other just to make sure they were still there.

Max couldn't believe her luck. Just one day ago she had nothing, she had almost lost everything and now, now she had everything that she wanted. Sure there were things she still needed to work out but for now she was able to push that to the side for Chloe was the only thing in her sight.

The blue haired girl rolled on to her side with a groan and propped her head up on her hand, resting on her elbow. "Max…" she began in a low voice.

With heavy eyes, Max turned her head to look at her friend and raised her eyebrow in question.

"Tell me… tell me about before." She began, when she was met with a quizzical expression from Max she chose to restructure her words. "I mean, tell me about before… before I died. Like when we hung out and stuff."

Max gave a small pout as the entire week, both the good and bad, replayed through her mind.

"Just the good stuff…" Chloe added, dragging her fingers lazily up and down Max's arm. "I want to know… I just want to know… well, I guess I just want to know how some of these feelings came to be." She smiled warmly.

Max exhaled, turning her head back and briefly looked to the ceiling before closing her eyes. After a moment, she finally began to speak. "The first time I saw you… the first time I genuinely saw you since being back in Arcadia Bay was the day that you would have died, that you were meant to die, Chloe. I heard the commotion and I looked around the corner of the stall… I didn't want to be seen. I didn't know it was you at the time. The blue hair, the punk clothes, you were so different to what I remembered…" a small smile played on Max's lips.

"Hey, it had been five years, right?" Chloe laughed. "Did you expect me to still be wearing those preppy little clothes my parents liked to dress me in? No way. I'm hard core all the way!"

Max turned her head to glance to her friend, giving her a look as if to say _'Oh really? Because if last night was anything to go by…'_ While she knew Chloe was most definitely in some aspects 'hard core', she was also extremely sensitive deep down.

Chloe pushed at her friends shoulder and grinned. Max didn't need to speak for her to understand exactly what she was thinking. "Oh shut up, you."

"I didn't know it was you at the time but I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I was confused. I'd never really, other than we were younger, considered a girl like that before. I mean, of course I see that girls are pretty but never that. And those blue eyes… even from far away… Maybe it was just that though. That I was so far away." It was Max's turn to laugh, as she made a joke at her friend's expense.

Chloe groaned and covered her face with her hands. "When did you get so funny, Hippie?"

"Seriously though, Chloe. I just… I felt something then. As scared as I was in that moment for you, I selfishly took time to admire how beautiful you were. And when I saw it was you… after Nathan shot you, I knew I had to do everything to save you." Max paused remembering when she had gone back in time just to watch Chloe die again in that same situation.

The blue haired girl placed her hand on the brunette's arm reassuringly.

"One of my favourite times was when we were hanging out in your room. We were just lazily chilling on your bed, napping and what not. You know how it goes. I think you were baked…" Max laughed, recalling that moment. The smell of Chloe's sheets as she laid on them was fresh in her mind. A smell she would never forget.

Chloe smirked. "Of course I was high, only reason I'd make the mistake of hanging out with you!"

"Who's the funny one now?" Max chortled.

"It's me. It's always been me." Chloe gave an exaggerated, cocky laugh and Max nudged her with her elbow.

"You dared me to kiss you, you know?" Max said with a smile. "Of course I did… Though, you didn't think I would. Even back then I had balls, okay. I… that kiss. That was when I knew for sure that I wouldn't be able to ignore my feelings. That I would… that I would do anything for you. I… I really fucked up when I let you go…" She trailed off.

"Max…" Chloe began, reaching out her hand to brush her bangs to the side.

Max shook her head. "It's okay, Chloe. You were so beautiful that morning. Everything was so serene back then. Before all the trouble was uncovered. We just… we just had fun together. No matter what, I always had your back. And you always had mine."

"I'll always have your back, Super-Max." Chloe affirmed, leaning over to kiss Max's cheek, albeit awkwardly, still unsure about their new level of contact. "No more past for now, only present." She grinned, nudging her nose against the brunette's forehead before laying back down and closing her tired eyes. "Man, I'm beat."

It was Max's turn to sit up and she rested on her elbow, leaning over best friend. "That's no fair."

With her eyes closed, Chloe raised her eyebrow suggestively.

Leaning down, Max placed her lips to Chloe's, giving her a gentle kiss before pulling away. "You can't not kiss me…" Max said, finally beginning to feel shy.

Chloe opened her eyes and smirked the biggest Max had ever seen from her. "Can't I?"

Max's cheeks had never been more flushed and she wanted nothing more than to bury herself in the blankets. Laying back down, she instead covered her face with her hands as she heard Chloe laugh. When she finally removed her hands, Chloe was leaning over her and with her face now uncovered it was Chloe's turn to lean down and kiss her, though more passionate than Max had.

"Wowsers." Max muttered, finally having to come up for air.

"You're such a dork." Chloe muttered with a smile as she reached over the girl to pick up her phone, finally going to read the messages she had been receiving all morning. They had all been from her mother, requesting her presence home urgently. She sighed. "Max, I have to go for a little while. The parentals are getting up in my shit."

The blue haired girl threw her legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge of it. She rubbed at her face before running her fingers effortlessly through her hair. Max laid on her side and watched her friend's every movement. Biting her lip, she struggled internally with whether or not she should stay laying down or if she should act on what she wanted to do.

With an affirmative nod to herself, Max shifted on the bed, moving behind Chloe. Positioning her legs on either side of the tall girl, she wrapped her arms tightly around her waist, hugging her body to hers. Placing her lips to her shoulder, she trailed kisses along her back, before settling on the back of her neck where she ran the tip of her tongue up to her hairline causing Chloe to shudder.

Chloe looked over her shoulder lazily, placing her hands on top of her friends. "You make it hard to do anything, you know?"

Max rested her cheek on Chloe's shoulder, smiling against her soft skin. "That's the plan though, isn't it?"

"Do you want to come…?" Chloe paused, knowing she didn't want to spend a second without Max. "Mum would love to see you. David too."

Max shook her head. "Chloe, I…"

Chloe gave a small smile. "It's okay, Max. I understand. I won't be long. Please… please just… just stay here." Her voice became low as she quietly pleaded with Max. "I don't want…"

The brunette gave her friend's midsection a reassuring squeeze knowing that she was concerned for her welfare. "I'll be okay, I promise. I'll wait for you to come back. Just… don't be long, please?" Max smiled softly, giving Chloe's shoulder another kiss.

Chloe gave a small contented sigh, not wanting to remove herself from the embrace but knew for now that she had no choice. Standing up she moved to put her shoes on before turning to Max. "I won't be long. Get some more rest, okay? I'll bring some food back with me. Text me what you want."

Max gave a nod and watched with longing as her best friend left the room and with that brought a sense of abandonment and solitude. She immediately felt her stomach drop, and the walls around her begin to cave in on her. Crawling under her blankets, she hid her head from it all. Refusing to acknowledge the panic attack she was having. Chloe would be back soon and it would all be okay.

Max's phone began to vibrate, quickly followed by it beginning to ring. Only reaching her hand out, she blindly felt around her dresser for it before grasping it and pulling it under the covers to safety. It was Warren. She thought about ignoring it, but with a sigh she resigned to the fact that it was time to deal with everything. There was no running anymore.

"…Hello." She spoke hoarsely.

"Hey, Max!" Warren exclaimed, happy that she had finally answered him. "Are you okay?"

Max gave a small smile, he was always so concerned about her, even after she had hurt him. "I'm okay, Warren. I'll… I'll be okay."

"That's good, Max." there was a silence that fell before Warren finally spoke again. "Max, I'm so sorry… Everything, I… It all…" The brunette boy began to speak, stumbling over his head as if trying to repeat something he had rehearsed but his nerves getting the best of him.

"Stop, Warren." Max said calmly. "It's okay. It's just…" she stopped, realising it was something she didn't want to say over the phone.

"Max, can we… Can I see you? I just feel like I have a lot to explain to you and I'd really like the opportunity to. I mean, you're my friend and I… I don't want to lose that." He whispered unsure where he now stood with Max.

Max paused, letting another silence wash over the two. He was right, the two of them needed to talk and there was no point laying around doing nothing whilst she waited for Chloe to return. "Sure, Warren."

There was excitement on Warren's end of the line. "Great! I'll come see you."

"No…" Max quickly said, cutting off Warren before he could add anything else to his sentence. Poking her head out of the blanket the room continued to move in on her. She put her head back under. She couldn't stay here alone. Fresh air would do her good. "I'll… I'll come to you."

Warren was confused at first but was quick to agree. "Okay, Mad-Max. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon, Warren." Max hung up the phone and with a sigh resigned to the fact that she would, as quickly as she could, get ready and head over to Warren's. It would be an awkward conversation but she had finally been honest with Chloe, it was finally time to be honest with Warren.

* * *

She pulled her hood over her head as she pulled her door shut behind her. Walking as quickly as she could, to avoid everyone in the hallway, she reached the door and broke free in to the sunlight. As much as going outside was daunting, she had to admit that the sun on her skin was a nice feeling. She didn't like feeling cold, it was a feeling she would graciously allow the sun to take from her.

Max slowed her steps, realising she actually enjoyed the fresh air. It had been a while since she had had any, and as much as the idea of venturing outside had scared her, she soon realised that it was actually quite pleasant.

The campus of Blackwell was full of students who were also taking advantage of the nice day. Max couldn't help but stare at them all, at her friends and notice how happy they all seemed. She didn't know if it had anything to do with the nice weather or if it were something else, but she was thankful that everything was okay.

The serenity before her made her feel at ease, and reaching up she pulled down the hood of her sweater, allowing her face to be exposed to the elements. Releasing a deep breath from her longs, she allowed a small smile to grace her soft lips. Maybe it wasn't so bad? Maybe everything was going to look up from here. After all, she had finally told Chloe how she felt, and that was a massive step for the shy girl.

She didn't know what that meant for them, but at least it was now all on the table. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders and that could only help her on the road to recovery. On the path to finding herself again and mending all the wounds that had been created in the past year. It was only a small fraction of the things she kept bottled up, but still it was a massive step. To even be able to share her inner most feelings was phenomenal.

Looking down at her feet, she continued to shuffle along the pavement, letting her thoughts take her out of her surroundings. She hadn't entirely realised it before, but there had never been anyone else. It had always been Chloe. Even in Seattle, no boys, or even girls caught her fancy. They were always just there. And nothing more than a passing thought. Sure, she had to admit that she found people attractive, just not in a way that made her crave their attention. That made her want to do anything to be in their presence. Made her put her own wants to the side to fulfil theirs.

It had always been that way, even since they were kids. She was too young to understand the feelings then, she had only assumed that that's what having a best friend was meant to feel like. After all, she only had the one. And they had always spent all their time together. Going on adventures and playing dress ups. Yet even back then she had to admit she had the same feelings that she did now.

She smiled to herself. Even back then she had the feelings but it took her that long to realise. It took her that long to finally build up the courage to just say it. It was a daunting task, but she had done it. She had swallowed her fear of rejection and finally said it, and Chloe had felt the same way. Deep down she realised she had to have known that Chloe returned some of her feelings, even if it wasn't ever explicitly said but that's what made it so hard, the fact that it was never even a topic of discussion. It was always just up in the air. And that was fucking terrifying to Max.

But it was all done now, the feelings were out in the open. Yes, they still had a lot to discuss, but that was something they could figure out together. After all, that would be half the fun of it. Figuring it all out again. Figuring each other all out again.

Her arm was jerked as she was tightly clutched by a rough, callused hand, snapping her out of her daze. A small pained whimper escaped her lips as she was dragged the small distance to seclusion. She wanted to yell, scream for someone to come help her but she couldn't find her voice. The initial yank on her arm had knocked the wind out of her. She was roughly shoved in to a walled off alley between the Blackwell buildings.

Max was trapped.

As she whipped her head from side to side to survey her surroundings she realised that she was in fact trapped. She shook her head, refusing to believe that this was how it ended.

Her eyes finally settled on her attacker, the one who had caught her so off guard and unawares.

Cole advanced on her, a twisted grin plastered on his face, his arm extended and his fingers outstretched and contorted towards her. "Max, you can't run anymore. It's time to come with me."

"No." Max shook her head again, this time more furiously as if the motion would make the scene before her disappear, however it did not. "I can't help you, Cole. I swear I can't help you. Please let me go."

"Shut up, you stupid bitch." He growled, stopping in his tracks to snarl at the brunette.

His angry expression was quick to turn to bemusement and Max realised for the first time that he was truly insane.

Cole laughed a hearty laugh. "Do you think that my brother felt the same fear as you're feeling now?"

"I don't know your brother!" Max screamed, experiencing true fear at the fact she was cornered and she had no choice but to confront the situation. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Let me go…" She pleaded, tears welling in her eyes as she wished that Chloe was here to help her.

"Oh, but you do." Cole sneered, his lips curling in to a demented grin. "You know him very well. Or rather, knew him. And because of you, he's no longer here. However, you can fix that. I no longer can, but you can."

"What are you talking about!" Max yelled, throwing her arm to the side. She struggled to come to any logical explanation for his words. Her mind simply would not let her think. Every time she came close to deciphering his words, or approached any scenario's that she might have wronged someone her mind rejected it, instead making her focus on the situation at hand. She was in trouble. It was fight or flight. "I haven't fucking done anything to you, or your brother."

"But you have, Max. Tell me…." He paused as if contemplating his sentence, yet when he finally spoke he spoke with confidence as if he had rehearsed it a thousand times. "When you rewound time, did you even care for anyone else other than yourself? Did you only care about your own selfish intentions? Did you even fucking consider that you were taking things away from other people? Did you, Maxine?" he said her name with distaste, allowing it to linger in the air long after he had finished speaking.

Max closed her eyes tightly, not wanting to let herself cry. She needed to remain strong. "I didn't… When I rewind time, there isn't a second that I don't think about the consequences! That's why I don't… That's why I only did it when I had to!" she spoke with frustration, feeling angry at receiving the third degree. She hadn't always made the right choice, and she most certainly had made selfish choices, but she had only ever done what she thought was right.

"Is that what you tell yourself? That you are the good in the world?" he laughed. "That you are some sort of modern day Super Hero?" he turned his head to the side and spat, there was no hiding what he thought of Max. "Don't make me laugh. While you were busying making your life perfect, you were ruining everyone else. You were taking things away from everyone else. Your actions fucked everyone else."

"Stop! I didn't ask for this, I didn't ask for any of this. If I could go back, I would. If I could never be given these stupid fucking powers, I would be so god damn happy." She frowned, realising that she was lying. She wouldn't do that, not when Chloe would have died without her. "If I could give them up now, I would. Gladly."

Cole took another step towards her, starting to close the gap. "I used to be like you, Max. Using my powers for good. To help the people I loved. I would have done anything to keep them safe. Unlike you, my intentions were noble and unselfish. I didn't just do it for my own happiness, I did it for others. That makes me better than you. Than someone as pathetic as you are." He finished, waving at Max dismissively with his hand. "That's the difference between you and I. We were never on the same level." He stared at her harshly as if she were nothing more than a pile of trash. "Mark Jefferson, he was better than you. Than both of us. He was true greatness."

Max froze, unable to move in that instant as if everything had finally came crashing down around her. "Mark Jefferson…?" she repeated, barely above a whisper.

Cole chuckled at Max, adjusting the glasses. "You really are slow, aren't you Max. He always spoke such highly of you, yet I really fail to see why he had such a fascination with you in the first place." He pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down.

"I don't understand…" Max breathed quietly, afraid to hear the truth she knew was coming.

"That seems to be a trend, doesn't it, Max? You're awfully clueless. Do I really need to spell it out for you?" he smirked.

Max clenched her fists at her side, becoming increasingly annoyed at this man tearing her down.

"As smart as my brother was, he definitely did not always used to be." He began, folding his arms across his chest. "That's where my powers came in to it. We were a team. Well, before he moved here. He was definitely a lot smarter when he took the job here, in this shit hole of a town. Figured it would be easier for him to hone is particular set of skills that he had developed a taste for. I'd be lying if at first I thought it was wrong. But I grew to understand it, I even began to admire his ambition for his 'perfect' shot. I admired his drive." His sick grin was replaced by a fond smile as he remembered the past. "My brother was a great man. But even great people make mistakes sometimes. He would make a mistake, and I would clean it up. He always learnt from his mistakes though, never repeating them. A sign of true greatness. He became rather effective at what he did. I guess you could even say I was proud." Cole looked up from the spot he had been looking at on the ground, his green eyes wavering. "He was my older brother, I would have done anything for him."

Max shook her head dismissively. "He was a monster, a murderer!"

"Don't fucking interrupt me." Cole barked, taking another step towards Max.

The brunette girl took another step back, becoming increasingly aware of the small distance between her back and the wall. She swallowed the lump in her throat, her legs beginning to tremble. It wouldn't be long before he was upon her, and she definitely wasn't strong enough to fight him off. He was easily twice her size at least and much stronger. The last year had taken a toll on her, she barely had the strength to get up each day. How was she meant to fend off an angry, grown man?

She studied the man before her, hating every single thing about him. Hating herself for not making the connection sooner. He was the spitting image of his brother, right down to his black rimmed glasses. She should have known from the way he spoke at the diner, by the way he clearly thought he was better than anyone else that he had to be related to the monster that was Mark Jefferson.

She dug her nails in to her palm, fighting the urge to burst in to tears. She had to be strong, she couldn't appear weak to him. That definitely wouldn't get her out of this situation. She found herself wishing Chloe was there to get her out of this. To save her. She quickly shook her head from those thoughts. She hadn't had Chloe for a year and she had survived, and she couldn't expect Chloe to save her every time. She had to be able to save herself. She had to be able to deal with situations on her own before she could allow anyone else to help. So she could be strong enough for Chloe. That was something she had to do for herself. She couldn't be that weak person anymore. That relied on anyone else to fix things for her. It was time to man up.

Max looked to the ground, her body beginning to tremble with rage.

"Don't get me wrong, Max. He wasn't perfect." He began as if they had both admired the man. "I'm not perfect, you're definitely not perfect. No one is. But if anyone was close to it, it was him." He continued on with his sick idolisation. "He was destined for greatness… that was, until he met you." He gestured with his hands, emphasising his words. "I'll never understand his fascination with you but to him, you were something special. He felt a connection with you. He would have loved for you to accept him, to work with him… but you were far too stubborn and stupid to do that. Maye he saw a little bit of himself in you. Maybe deep down, you're just like him."

She paused, his words wounding her, echoing mercilessly. _'Maybe deep down you're just like him…'_

Max threw her head back. "I never would have worked with him!" she spat in disgust. "Everything he did… Everything he stood for... I'm nothing like him!"

"Maybe that is the only difference between you two, he had a vision that you were unable to see. I knew…" he paused, as if unsure on how to proceed. "I knew from what he told me about you that there was something about you that I couldn't see. That you shared something with me." He snorted. "I didn't want to believe that someone else could share the same thing as me, let alone some insolent fucking bitch, but I couldn't deny what he was telling me. When he… when he was discovered I knew, I knew that you had something to do with it. It was too convenient. He had done nothing wrong."

"Why…" Max trailed off, filled with rage. "Then why didn't you do something about it! Why didn't you stop it and just fucking kill me together." She was unsure whether or not she wanted to know the answer, but deep down, she had to know.

"Because Max, unlike you my powers seemed to be short lived… I'm still hopeful they'll come back to me, but for now I've had to settle for this." he stopped, his green eyes locking with her blue. "Don't you think I would have killed you by now if I could have? I have wanted nothing more than to feel your life drain away in my hands. To snap your god damn fucking neck." He smiled a contented grin. "I've dreamt about it. How I would do it. Some days it was quick, giving you the compassion you definitely didn't deserve. Others it was long… drawn out. Having your blood on my hands… Well, I understand why Mark was driven to kill. It's euphoric. To be in control of whether someone lives or dies, to have that life on your hands… It's a shame really that I need you alive."

Max looked down, unable to maintain eye contact with him any longer. She felt a little relieved for the fact that he needed her alive, even if it was short lived. However, that meant that he simply could not kill her. He needed her. Though that still didn't make her feel safe. She was suddenly glad she had not revealed to him that she could no longer use her powers. What use would she have been to him then? If he did get what he wanted, he would discard her though, and that was still an immediate concern. It wasn't a matter of giving him what he wanted and having him go away.

He was going to kill her, whether she helped him or not.

He knew all along what his brother was doing, and he was helping him. There was no way he could justify that he was doing well to anyone. He aided in his brother killing people and he had the nerve to say he was doing good for the world? Max scoffed in disgust.

Taking a step even closer to Max, Cole reached out his hand and ran the back of his cold fingers down the side of her face. He smiled as if gazing upon something precious to him, something that would be only his.

Max flinched and looked to the side, disgusted by the contact, yet she was unable to move. She closed her eyes, wishing her brain to pretend she was anywhere but here. That there wasn't some lunatic touching her. She couldn't even begin to fathom what was going to happen passed this point.

"I must admit, it's taken longer than I had intended. You don't understand what Mark has been subjected to being locked away. Being treated like he was nothing more than a pile of filth for his dream." He frowned, stroking his thumb up and down her cheek with a delicate touch. "You don't understand but you will, Max. I'll make sure you feel what he has felt. Every minute of it." He laughed, watching as Max's face contorted with a mix of emotions. "I wanted to kill you. A long time ago I wanted to kill you. The anger I felt towards you, it was enough to drive anyone insane…" he mused, tapping the side of Max's face with force with his open palm.

Max whimpered, her face turning to the side with the contact. She refused to acknowledge that it had happened. She refused to give him that satisfaction.

His frown was replaced with a contented smirk. "It was actually Mark's idea to post the thread. You may have taken away his memory, but I never forgot. Of course he was at first furious that I was unable to help him. He was very disappointed in me. So when I offered to kill you to make it up to my dear older brother, he was quite thrilled until he realised that he had other plans for you. Once he knew that you had the same powers I once had, he began to come up with an idea. There was no way that I would be able to approach you. Not when Mark was still a very hot topic." He laughed, throwing his head back. "Seriously Max, how the fuck did you not recognise me? I was all over the news!" Cole mocked.

Max frowned as she furrowed her eyebrows, still refusing to look at the man before her. Her cheek was beginning to sting but still she ignored it with all the will she had. Her blue eyes began to well with tears as he continued his tirade.

"So stupid… Anyways, where was I?" he grinned and flashed his white teeth. "Oh right. As much as I wanted you dead, Mark knew that I had to wait. He knew that I needed to lay low so that I wouldn't be recognised when the time came. I didn't think it would work, but that bastard was right. You were stupid enough to forget. He got a huge kick out of that. He was the one that suggested I make the thread and we had almost given up hope that you would ever find it and I was ready to hunt you down. But here we are." Cole rubbed at his jaw, clearly enjoying every moment of Max's pain. "Mark knew that I would never be able to approach you that you would have to approach me. I guess he knew you a bit better than I did and he was my big brother so I went with it. He's always right. Look where we are now. It's funny really how simple this has all been. From everything Mark told me, I expected this to be a lot more complicated." He paused briefly to take a deep breath before continuing. His voice was now coarse and dark. There was no more light heartedness. "If I were able, I would have rewound a long time ago and got him out of trouble, like he had always counted on me to do. I would have insisted he got rid of you before you started to cause trouble for us, despite his feelings for you. And that's just what I plan to do. I told you Max, you took something from me and I'm going to need you to fix it. So whether you like it or not, you're coming with me."

Max turned her attention back to the tall man towering over her. Swallowing down all her fear, she furrowed her brows, her eyes meeting his in a death stare.

"Fuck. You!" she snarled in disgust. "I'm never going to fucking help you!"

"You little bitch." With a scoff, Cole raised his hand, his dark brown hair swaying in the gentle breeze. Swinging it down, the back of his hand connected with the side of Max's face, knocking her to the ground.

Max fell to her knees, the concrete grazing her skin on contact. Instinctly she reached her hands up to cup her face, a red mark already beginning to show from his hand. She whimpered pathetically as the tears that she had been holding in for so long began to fall from her eyes, moistening her hands before finally falling in to her lap and soaking her jeans.

There was a stunned silence as she felt Cole loom over her, his presence dominating her and keeping her down. She wanted to rise to her feet defiantly, but she was beat. She had nothing left in her anymore. All his words had dragged her down and she wasn't ready to fight those demons anymore. She wasn't ready to deal with Mark Jefferson again. The first encountered had damn nearly killed her and she wasn't nearly as strong as she used to be. Not yet.

With her blue eyes red and full of tears, Max finally looked up with horror etched on to her face as Cole began to speak in a tone that conveyed his utter distaste for the frail girl that made Max begin to shudder with fear.

"Let me tell you something, Maxine Caulfield. You are nothing. You will always be nothing."

There was a loud, painful thwack as a wooden board made contact and splintered in to many pieces with the back of Cole's head. There was a loud groan as he fell forward, his face eating the pavement below him hard. His thick rimmed glasses fell off his face, landing mere inches from him in the trashed alley. His eyes, as briefly as they were open made contact with Max's as she sat there with her mouth agape, confused by the situation at hand, before they closed with a final groan.

"Fuck…" Chloe muttered, dropping the rest of the wood she had been holding in her hand.

The blue haired girl looked down at her hands, then down at the man on the ground she had just taken out. Shaking her head, she snapped out of her daze before stepping over the body and rushing to her friend. Crouching down in the dirt, she quickly wrapped her arm around the stunned brunette.

"Chloe…" Max muttered blinking slowly at Cole's lifeless body before turning to look at her friend. "Is he… is he dead?"

"I don't know…" she murmured quietly, trying to rationalize what she had just done. She had to do it. Her best friend was in danger. "I don't think so… I think he's still breathing but I'm not sure… It doesn't matter, we need to get out of here." She shook her friend gently out of her own daze.

"Thank you, Chloe…" Max whispered quietly, as she allowed Chloe to help her to her feet. Her knees hurt, but she managed to stay upright. "I don't know what would have…"

"Shush." Chloe said sternly. "We need to get out of here, Max."

Max looked down at the man who now seemed much smaller than he had earlier. Clenching her fists tightly at her side, her face remained expressionless. Her face most definitely didn't betray the feelings running through her head. She could end this all now, she could kill him now and it would all be over. There would be no more hiding and she could attempt to get on with her life. She couldn't help but find herself wondering how easy it would be to take the life of an unconscious man. If they would feel no pain.

One side of her upper lip curled upwards in disgust. He definitely did not deserve a pain free death. After everything he had put her through, after everyone he had helped Mark Jefferson ruin and murder he definitely desired to suffer for his sins. Max looked down at her hand at her side, she uncurled her fingers, turning her hand to study them before closing her fist tightly in to a ball again. She found herself wanting to know, wondering, what it would be like to end the life of such a scumbag. To take the life of the brother of the man who stole so much from her, from Chloe, from all her friends.

She knew that she would enjoy it, and that scared her. Max knew that given the chance, she would rip his throat out. She felt an undeniable rage towards him, towards his brother. That thought was absolutely terrifying to her. She had never wanted to harm anyone before, but here she was considering doing it with her bare hands.

The brunette shook her tired head. _'No…'_ she thought. She couldn't. She would never stoop to their level. She would never become them.

"Come on, we have to go…" Chloe whispered grabbing Max's trembling hand and lacing her fingers with hers. Chloe tugged at her arm and the two of them ran out of the alley way, away from the man that had threatened Max's life.

* * *

 _ **Well, here you go, you beautiful little butterflies.**_

 _ **I hashed this one out in a couple hours last night, even though I had work at 4am, I couldn't help but stay up and finish it for you guys, and it was quite fun to write too, so it was a little for all of us haha. I'm not sure what the uploading schedule will be like over the next couple weeks leading up the Christmas. Work is hella busy and I'm training for my promotion at the same time, so finding time will be hard BUT I'll do my best. As I've said, I'm having a lot of fun with this so I'm always consistently trying to write. Writing this however has made me realise why I loved this game so much. I mean other than it's great storyline and artwork and such. And I've realised that I used to be half Chloe/Half Max. And I'm sure we can all relate to that. So it's nice being able to project some of that here which means I'll definitely keep writing.**_

 _ **I hope this answers some of the questions you guys seem to be having, though. Every story needs the insane villain, does it not? Is he going to be the main antagonist though? I guess we will have to wait and seeeee. And of course Chloe was going to save Max- I would never let anything bad happen to her... It's going to get pretty serious for a while from here, but I'll probably do one more fluff chapter before that or at least scattered in between so we all still get our Pricefield fix. However, it's not all smooth sailing.**_

 _ **As always, thank you so much for the reviews and private messages. I know I say it every time, but it really means a lot to read them. While I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, I may go back and rewrite some parts that obviously need to be more consistant -Cough- no bathtub at blackwell. -cough-. And maybe the first couple chapters need a bit of attention, (I've not even read them so I shudder to even think...) it was the first time I have written in about five or six years after all...**_

 _ **Keep up the reviews and I look forward to reading what you thought of this chapter!**_


	14. Author's Note

Hey all,

Sorry for everyone that is going to get excited that this might be an update... I sincerely apologise.

First off, I'd like to address all of the "Where has Chapter 14 gone" questions I have received and the answer to that is that I uploaded something that for once I was entirely unhappy with and made the call to pull it down. I am sorry for everyone that was halfway through reading it, but it was definitely the right call at the time and I look forward to correcting the chapter to something I will be happy with. However IF you would like the chapter now as it is, if you PM me I would be happy to send it to you. Just to tide you over until the actual update is ready.

As for why the next chapter isn't up yet. Well, December was a terrible month for technology for me... My lovely Husky Eevee decided to break my laptop- taking with it the story and everything else. HOWEVER, this should be fixed in the next week or so to come so look forward to more story from that point forward.

I have since taken the time to re-write a majority of the story. Adding more detail, drama, story, fixing all the issues with the plot and of course more Pricefield and creating something that I am actually ridiculously happy with. Well, for the most part. I will begin uploaded the updated chapters shortly and I hope you guys will take the time to read and review them.

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, and an exceptional New Years. The amount of support and feedback I have received from everyone has been phenomenal and I can't begin to thank you enough. The encouragement I have received alone has made me pick up my actual novel I started years ago and begin writing that again. Thank you so much, and I look forward to having something posted for you guys shortly.

If there is anything else you guys want to know or ask, feel free to send me a PM.


	15. UPDATE

Hey Everyone, long time no post.

I was super bored at work so to kill the time I thought I'd do a bit of reading and it lead me here. Granted very recent PM's, (feel free to keep messaging me) I thought I would give an update. Life literally caught up with me and I've been crazy busy between work, buying my first home, pets(getting another puppy soon!) etc which meant writing really fell on the back burner.

Lately I've wanted to get back in to writing so I will definitely start working on an update- (though all was lost with my broken computer). Considering it's been a while, it may take me a while to get back in to it but I will update. Just need to try and remember where this was going… haha

I also actually shamelessly fell on the Chasefield bandwagon and had been working on a story for that, so that may be put up eventually too.

Thank you all for your kind PM's and hopefully I can still do this story justice.


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